The Perceptionist
by 5th Dimension
Summary: While the dexholders enjoy a carnival, a mysterious person sneaks into Oak's Lab and takes an item of utmost importance, seeking to remake the world as he pleases. Specialshipping, Mangaquestshipping, Franticshipping. Rated T for safety.
1. Chapter 1: The Carnival

**This is a story featuring the dexholders of Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn. While the dexholders of Sinnoh would be fun to write, I feel there would be _way_ too many people to write about… for now, anyways.**

**Blue is the girl. (Stupid Japanese/American nameswap!)**

**Shippings: Special, Frantic, Mangaquest.**

**I don't feel that there is much evidence to support either Oldrivalshipping or Chosenshipping (I might make fun of this fact). **

**This story happens near the start of Platinum Chapter because I cannot find anything after about halfway through it online.**

**I do not own any aspect of Pokémon.**

**If I owned Pokémon games, I would connect all regions into one game.**

**If I owned Pokémon Special, Red would finally get a clue.**

**If I owned Pokémon anime, Ash Ketchum would get crushed by a Snorlax.**

**And his Unova friends would laugh.**

Chapter 1: The Carnival

Blue was excited. This was probably the greatest idea ever. Professor Oak had made her promise not to do anything bad after Red became champion, of course, but is putting people in relationships bad?

Blue didn't think so.

So, she called everyone she knew together. It wasn't that hard, as everyone met yearly for the Pokédex Holders' reunion. One by one, her friends arrived, and took seats around her.

"So, pesky woman, what's this all about?" Green asked.

Silver glared at him.

"Heehee… Well, Green, I asked everyone to come here because I just happen to have tickets to the nearby carnival, and I thought that it would be fun if everyone were to go!"

Green looked around the room. Gold seemed idle, almost bored. Silver was nodding, causing Green to wonder when Silver _ever_ disagreed with Blue. Red was sitting close to Yellow, who was blushing and glancing at him. Ruby and Sapphire weren't paying much attention, and were glaring at each other. Emerald was sitting quietly in a corner of the room. The only one who seemed as suspicious as Green was to Blue's plan was Crystal.

Red, however, was enthusiastic.

"I think that's a great idea! Let's go!"

Blue smiled and said, "I knew I could count on you all! Come on, we're going!"

Green groaned.

* * *

><p>Emerald smiled when he saw the rides and tents in the background. At first he didn't think that Blue was telling the truth, and that she was probably doing something sneaky. However, seeing the Carnival in front of him, all his worries slipped away… until Blue spoke up.<p>

"Alright, then, it wouldn't be fun if we all stayed together. We would all just get in each other's way! I took the liberty of writing up some groups. Okay, here we go."

"Red is with Yellow."

Yellow shyly glanced at Red, and Red smiled back.

"Gold is with Crystal."

Crystal snapped to attention immediately in shock, while Gold put on a smirk.

"Ruby, with Sapph."

The duo looked murderous, and yet for some reason they nodded.

"Emerald, Silver, and Green will be with me."

Emerald relaxed- he didn't have to be with wild girl and prissy boy. Silver nodded agreeably, though his face was serious. Green, however, wasn't having any of it.

"Tell me, Blue, just why is it that every other group has two people in them, and ours has-"

"Well, Greenie, shall we go to the haunted house? It will be so much fun!"

"Noisy woman."

* * *

><p>Sapphire was a little upset. She knew what Blue was doing, and while she liked the idea of it, she just couldn't stand the reality of actually going on a "date" with Ruby. She liked Ruby well enough, but she just couldn't forgive the bonehead for actually forgetting her first confession on Mirage Island.<p>

There it was again, that painful memory. It was only painful because she _alone_ had it, but it was still painful nonetheless.

"Hey Sapph, how about we go on that ride, there?"

Sapphire looked at the ride Ruby was pointing at. It was… well, pretty big, but she could do him one better. She grabbed his hand and pulled him through the crowd.

"No, Ruby. First, we're doing _that _one," she said.

The one she had chosen was the biggest, scariest ride in all of Kanto. Its name: The Screaming Rayquaza.

Ruby did a double take. "WHAAAAAAAAT? You want me to go on that… _thing?_"

The Screaming Rayquaza was huge. It went up over four hundred feet, and then dropped down. That wasn't the worst part, though. After it hit rock bottom, it spun in a loop, then went down more, spun in a corkscrew, and then went down even further, but completely upside-down. After that, it spun into the usual roller coaster twists and turns, turning back right-side-up in the process.

Sapphire was amused. "Well, you rode with your dad on the _real_ Rayquaza, so how much harder could _this_ be?"

She dragged him into the line, and Ruby could not decide which was scarier: the girl, or the ride.

* * *

><p>Emerald laughed. This was hilarious! For the first time ever, he wished that he could be with those two to laugh at Ruby with Sapphire.<p>

Green sighed. This is exactly what he knew would happen. Blue had dragged their group of four over to the giant coaster to spy on Ruby and Sapphire. Green didn't understand it. In the Sevii Islands, Blue had actually been calm and serious. He had rather liked it. But now, her behavior was reverting to what it had been in their earlier journeys. He thought his grandfather had talked to her about being bad, but apparently it hadn't really reached her.

Blue smiled and nibbled on cotton candy. The look on Ruby's face was priceless. Having those two together was extremely entertaining. Turning to her group, she laughed.

"Well, this is fun. We'll just sit here awhile longer." She looked at the four, and chirped happily.

"You know? I find that this is a good day. I mean, I've got my boys, I've got food, and I've got entertainment. What else could a girl need?"

Green spluttered. "_Your_ boys?"

Silver looked perplexed and answered her rhetorical question. "I really don't know."

Emerald was too caught up in watching his Hoenn friends and didn't notice Blue's comment.

* * *

><p>Ruby was being dragged on the ground. "Please, Sapph, anything but this ride!"<p>

Sapphire stopped, and slowly smiled. "Anything?"

Ruby gulped. "Yes."

Sapphire looked at him and felt very triumphant. "Alright Ruby, answer two questions, and answer them correctly, and we'll ride that wimpy ride you pointed at earlier."

Ruby nodded. Anything to avoid this rollercoaster of doom.

"Okay then, first: Do you really remember our time together when we were leaving Mirage Island? Were you lying to me when you said you forgot?"

Ruby wondered if he could lie and get away with it. Looking at Sapphire's face, he realized that she would hurt him way worse than the rollercoaster would if he did.

"Uh… well… I…"

"RUBY! Do you remember, yes, or no!"

"Yes, Sapph. I remember everything."

Sapphire was in shock. One year of grief and anger, all because of a lie. Five words had rocked her world. She didn't expect it, but he did remember, after all. However, he owed her one more answer, and she was going to get it, whether or not the passerby were staring at them.

"Ah… Ruby? Well… ah… do you love me?" She blushed a very deep crimson.

Ruby looked at her. For an entire year, he had pretended to forget, simply because he didn't understand and couldn't deal with a change in their relationship. However, he knew he couldn't lie to her now.

"Yes, Sapph. I love you. Oomph!"

She tackled him, pushed him against a wall and kissed him, and the others in line stepped around the new couple.

* * *

><p>Blue did a fist pump.<p>

"Yes! I'm a genius! I knew this would happen!"

Green rolled his eyes and sighed. He really didn't care who got together with who.

Silver didn't care either, but if it made Blue happy, he supposed it was a good thing.

Emerald, on the other hand, was thoroughly disgusted.

"This isn't fun! I wanted to see Ruby's face on those rollercoaster snapshot things!"

Blue looked at him oddly. She needed to pair this naysayer with someone, too, but he was eleven, and obviously very short, despite all of the things he did to make it seem otherwise. He was the height of a five-year-old, and she didn't know how to match-make a midget.

"Oh, Emerald. Lighten up, buddy! We're not staying here any longer. We're going to spy on someone else, now!" Blue snapped a picture of Ruby and Sapphire kissing.

"Annoying woman."

Blue was surprised. This was the first time Green had called her pesky, noisy, and annoying all in one day.

* * *

><p>Gold was an idiotic, egotistical flirt.<p>

At least, that was Crystal's professional opinion.

The _jerk _had hit on every pretty woman with no apparent boyfriend. He had done everything from pick-up lines to pretending he had dropped a coin between their legs. Sure, he was handsome. Sure, he was smart. Sure, he was very friendly. But he didn't have to flaunt it with every girl from here to Timbuktu.

So, as his caretaker, she took upon herself to beat the crap out of him whenever he did.

Gold was nervous. It was his natural instinct as the Pokémon 'breeder' to do… well… whatever increased the chances of, well, breeding.

Crys didn't seem to understand that, though. Whenever his instincts took over, she hurt him. At least she didn't use her legs. Kicking pokéballs for years had made her legs as strong as a Hitmonlee's.

He caught himself staring at her legs. _Oh crap._ At least Crystal didn't seem to be paying any attention. She was looking at something that was incredibly odd to see in most carnivals: a Game Corner.

Seeing it, Gold broke into a grin. He grabbed Crys' hand, despite her protests, and pulled her into the Game Corner.

Crys wasn't happy. "What? _What?_"

Gold looked at her and asked, "You've never been to a Game Corner?"

Crys shook her head. "I don't gamble."

Gold smiled. "Well, Game Corners are awesome, and you don't _need_ to gamble, and besides, my favorite game is here."

Crys looked where he was gesturing. It was a billiards table.

"Are you _insane?_ This is a carnival. You could go to Goldenrod or Celadon for Game Corners, and yet, for some reason you drag me here now!"

Gold grinned. "Oh, cheer up, Super Serious Gal!"

Crys grew even more irritated at the use of the stupid nickname Gold had given her. Then she sighed.

"Alright, show me how to play this."

Gold seemed shocked. "You don't know how to play?"

Crystal folded her arms across her chest. "Are you going to teach me, or no?"

Gold sighed. He had wanted to play his favorite game with her, the one that his famous billiards cue was from, and she didn't even know how to play.

* * *

><p>Blue giggled as she watched Gold and Crystal. They were funnier than Ruby and Sapph! Gold would flirt with some lady, and Crys would squash him like a bug. She really couldn't blame Crys, though, as Blue had been on the receiving end of Gold's groping several years before.<p>

Then again, if Gold and Crys didn't get together, then she would have to interfere.

Green was in a better mood watching Gold and Crys than he was watching Ruby and Sapph, probably because he felt a sense of justice at seeing someone who deserved it get whomped.

Silver seemed agitated. The red-haired boy didn't quite understand why they had to spy on the pervert and the girl who kept him on a leash.

Emerald cheered Crys on, silently.

"Hmm… this isn't going well. I hope that they do something before I'm forced to," Blue murmured, smiling.

* * *

><p>Crys almost screamed.<p>

"This_… _is_… annoying!_"

"Hey, calm down, Super Serious Gal!"

She would not calm down. Gold had it easy. He could pocket any ball he wanted, and he made it look simple. Crys, on the other hand, almost always missed the place she wanted the ball to go, and the cue ball often went down those stupid holes.

She was almost to the point where she was going to break her cue stick in half.

"Crystal. Crys. Calm down."

Crystal's fury abruptly ended. Gold never called her by her real name.

Gold smiled lightly. "That's better. Okay Crys, let me help you out."

He went over to where she was standing and moved behind her. Putting her hands in his, he moved her into position. Crystal was too surprised to be indignant, and blushed slightly as she felt his arms against hers, and his chest against her back.

_Whoa, he's muscular._ She thought.

Gold, seemingly unconcerned with her red face, helped her to make an excellent shot. She felt hot, and stuttered.

"Eh… Uh… Th-thanks, Gold."

He flashed her his 'nice' smile, still holding her in his arms.

"You're welcome, Crys."

* * *

><p>"<em>YESSSSSSS! <em>That's two for two!" Blue cheered.

Green face palmed. He wished that he could just pull out his Charizard and fly away, but Blue would find him, and she would make him pay.

Silver was shocked. He could not believe that Crystal had just… _accepted_ Gold, all of a sudden. Gold was a notorious flirt, a cheater, a liar, and much more, but for some reason, Crystal seemed to have forgotten all that.

Emerald was disgusted, again. Crystal, a girl he had respected for her strength and independence, had apparently lost it to love.

Blue snapped a second picture.

"Can we go now?" Silver asked.

"Yes, Please." Green agreed with Silver for once.

"Absolutely, Blue!" Emerald put out.

"Hmmph, boys. I thought you were having fun. We have one more couple to check on, you know!"

* * *

><p>Red and Yellow had gone through the carnival, trying out whatever they thought would be fun.<p>

Yellow was happy. She had spent all this time with her favorite person, Red. It made her ecstatic that Blue was nice enough to pair her up with the champion, and it was even better that Red wanted to be with her, even if he only agreed with Blue so that he didn't get punished.

Red was enjoying himself, too. He enjoyed Yellow's company immensely, although he thought that maybe she was spending too much time in the sun. Her face was all red. Seeing a game, he quickly ran towards it, and Yellow followed along.

"Test your strength! If you can hit the bell at the top, you'll win a prize!" The girl who ran the game looked at Red.

"Ch-champion Red?" Of course she recognized him. Whispers had followed Red and Yellow up and down the carnival. Red didn't seem to notice, so Yellow had done her best to ignore them.

"H-hey… Y-you w-want to test your s-strength? Y-you l-look like y-you have b-big m-muscles…" The girl stuttered through her little speech, and blushed deeply.

Yellow's eyes narrowed. For some reason, the girl's words had struck a chord in her. A _bad_ chord. She pushed the feeling down, but for some reason it popped back up.

Red didn't seem to notice either the girl's or Yellow's distress.

"Sure, I'll try it!"

Getting a hold on the hammer that was decorated like a Golem, Red lifted it quickly above his head.

Yellow was amazed. She knew Red was strong, he had to be in order to be as powerful as he was in battle, but she would've been hardly able to lift the heavy hammer, much less move it over her head.

Red aimed, waited a moment, and then brought the mallet down with full force. The little piece of metal went up and struck the Pikachu-shaped bell, which buzzed out, "Pika!"

The girl who ran the game seemed impressed and bashful at the same time.

"Uh… P-pick any p-prize y-you want!" She gestured to a couple of cute dolls.

Red considered, and picked a Butterfree doll.

When Red and Yellow walked out, Red handed the doll to Yellow.

"_Ehhhhh?_" She blushed.

Red didn't seem to notice, and said, "Here, Yellow, I wanted to get you something special."

"Um… why a Butterfree?"

Red seemed embarrassed. "Because it's pretty…"

Yellow heard him whisper something after he said that, but couldn't make out what it was.

"Well, thank you, Red!"

Then she noticed the Ferris wheel.

"Hey Red, can we go on that?"

"Sure, Yellow. Anything you want."

* * *

><p>Blue thought that this was better than the other couples. Red and Yellow were so romantic, but Red was completely oblivious. Blue wondered what Red had said after giving Yellow the Butterfree, but she thought it didn't matter. Yellow was moving Red towards the Ferris wheel, now, and that was where something would happen. Blue smiled. <em>Alright, Yellow!<em>

Green was more than a little irked. He had not thought that the carnival idea was a good one from the beginning, and spying on his friends and juniors with Blue had convinced him that his first impression was the right one.

Silver was mildly curious about how the situation would play out, although he wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even himself. Yellow was an interesting person, and Red was a champion.

Emerald had lost interest in the whole spying business and had fallen asleep.

Then Blue got an idea. It was so simple, and yet, she was sure it would work.

"Hey, Greenie, do you think I can borrow your Scizor for a second?"

* * *

><p>Red and Yellow were looking out the window as the car they were in went up and up. They were smiling, and Red pointed out many of the places that they had been. As the car reached the highest point, the Ferris wheel stopped turning. Yellow gave him a look of worry, and Red looked down at the control booth.<p>

"Huh? The controller's been slashed to pieces."

* * *

><p>Green was very angry. He had passed irritation when he saw his Pokémon's handiwork.<p>

"YOU HAD SCIZOR USE METAL CLAW ON THE FERRIS WHEEL'S CONTROLS?"

Blue smiled and said sweetly, "I don't have any Pokémon that can cut apart metal, and certainly not quickly like yours."

Green was muttering angrily and pacing back and forth now.

Silver looked quizzically at Blue and asked, "Um… Blue, what was the point of that?"

"Red and Yellow are trapped in a car at the very top. That should give them enough room for things to happen."

* * *

><p>Yellow made a decision. She was scared, but she would tell him now, while they were alone. After all, when would she get another chance? Red was hardly ever truly alone with her.<p>

"Um… R-Red?"

"Yeah, Yellow?"

"I want to t-tell you s-something…" Great, her voice was quivering. That's all she needed right now, was to be shy.

"What is it, Yellow?"

Yellow blushed deeply and said, "Red, I love you. I have always loved you since the moment I met you, when you saved me from that Dratini all those years ago. I… I wanted to tell you sooner… b-but…"

Red was shocked. This girl, this beautiful blonde girl, loved him! His mind turned to all those instances when she had acted oddly, from nearly fainting when he had said, 'why don't we all just live together?' to the strange way she reacted whenever Misty called him, to the constant red face. It all suddenly made sense. Then it clicked. He had been acting oddly, too! Whenever he saw her, he devoted most of his time and energy to her, and though he had told himself before that it was because she was his friend, he had done more for her then anyone else! He also thought about the strange way he had acted when he gave her the Butterfree. He had been about to say, 'Because it's pretty… like you.'

So he looked at Yellow, looked her right in the eye, and said, "I love you too."

Yellow was way more than ecstatic, now. Now she was out-and-out blissful. Red had confessed to her, just as she confessed to him! The scenarios that she feared most faded from her mind.

Red was moving closer, closer…

Their lips touched. And she was lost in his kiss.

* * *

><p>Green was still muttering and pacing, when Blue let out a scream, nearly startling him out of his skin.<p>

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yesssssssssss! Way to go, Yellow!"

She had seen their kiss through her camera's binocular lens and had snapped a final picture before the couple in the car dropped out of sight.

Emerald woke up to her yells.

"Hmm? Are we done? Can we go on rides and stuff now?" the short boy asked.

Silver was surprised by Blue's loud voice, but quickly regained composure.

"Yeah, Blue. We're at a carnival. Why don't we go play some games or something."

"Okay, Silv! I'm all done, now! So what do you want to do, now?"

Green, Silver, and Emerald answered with three different answers.

"Go home."

"Roller Coaster."

"I want ice cream!"

Blue looked at the three boys. "Fufufu… how about we go to the haunted house, like I planned?"

Green sighed. This was going to be a _long_ day. "Pesky woman."

Silver glared at him. He thought Blue's idea was a good one. "Okay."

Emerald said, "Alright, but let's get ice cream first!"

* * *

><p>At the end of the day, the dexholders all met up together at the exit.<p>

"So how was your day?" Blue asked, smiling cheerfully.

Ruby and Sapphire looked at each other, and looked back at Blue.

"We rode on some rides," Ruby offered.

Gold spoke out, all smiles. "I had a good day, how about you, Super Serious gal?"

Red, Yellow, Ruby, and Sapphire all flinched, expecting Crystal to mop the floor with Gold for the use of the nickname.

To their surprise, she said, blushing, "I had a good day too, Gold."

Blue looked at Red and Yellow. "And you two?"

Red and Yellow didn't say a thing, and when the others looked at them, everyone noticed that they were holding hands.

Blue smirked and said, "Oh."

Red and Yellow blushed furiously.

* * *

><p>They were walking towards Blue's house, when Gold frowned and looked at his Pokégear. "What the heck?"<p>

Everyone looked at him, hoping that he would elaborate.

"I have over two hundred messages from Professor Oak. I turned off my Pokégear while I was in the carnival so that I wouldn't get bothered."

Green frowned. "It's not like grandpa to do something like that. I wonder what's wrong. Gold, may I see that?"

"Sure, Green."

Green took the Pokégear and dialed Professor Oak's number.

The Professor picked up the phone almost immediately.

"Hey gramps, what's up?"

"GREEN! Where in the world have you kids been? I've been trying to get a hold of any and all of you for four hours!"

"Whoa, slow down. What is going on?"

Green listened, and then turned grimly towards the other Pokédex Holders.

"We need to get to my grandfather's lab right away," Green said grimly.

* * *

><p><strong>Whoa, that was long. Ah well, it was worth it!<strong>

**Next chapter is when the story gets exciting.**

**Let me know what you thought of it.**


	2. Chapter 2: The Thief

**This is Chapter 2, where a lot of the action is going to begin.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 2: The Thief<p>

The Pokédex holders had finally arrived at Oak's lab. It wasn't all that far of a walk, actually, but it seemed to take forever because everyone's curiosity was piqued and Green refused to say anything about the phone call to his grandfather.

"Green, why don-"

"Hey, Green, will you-"

"Green, tell us al-"

"You'll find out when we get there!"

So, they were all anxious when Red opened the door to the Laboratory.

"Kids? Thank goodness you're all here!" Professor Oak looked very agitated, for some reason.

Blue, never one for patience, asked quickly, "Professor, what's going on?"

Professor Oak sighed and sat down in his chair. "This is the third time this has happened."

The dexholders looked confused.

"About four and a half hours ago, someone stole the new prototype Pokédex."

Immediately, the Professor was barraged with questions, exclamations, and very loud gibberish.

Oak couldn't handle it. "_Oh,_ QUIET ALREADY!"

Everyone was immediately silent, except for Blue.

"Professor, both Silver and I stole_ our _Pokédexes, what makes this so special?"

Professor Oak almost smiled. At least some of these remarkable trainers were thinking.

"Well, to answer your question, this Pokédex had a new function that I just recently added. It was supposed to measure and track energy signatures in various Pokémon and objects."

Sapphire was more than a little puzzled. "What the heck does that mean? What does it do?"

"It means, Miss Birch, that it can find nearly any Pokémon or object."

Emerald raised his hand. "Isn't that what an Itemfinder can do?"

Professor Oak shook his head. "No, Emerald. This is different. The new Pokédex can find very special items that no Itemfinder would even come close to. For example, it could probably find the remains of the Blue and Red Orbs."

Ruby and Sapphire gasped.

"Or, because it can find Pokémon, too, it could locate the whereabouts of Mew one hundred percent of the time."

Red and Green looked frightened.

Professor Oak's frown became more pronounced. "From Bulbasaur to Palkia, from the smallest of the Pokéballs to the brightest Rainbow Feather, the new Pokédex can find anything."

"If only it had the key." The new voice softly rolled through the lab. Everyone flinched. The voice was hard and harshly accented, giving it a similar grating sound to that of nails on a chalkboard.

Everyone turned towards the now-open door. A boy, perhaps sixteen, with messy dark-brown, near-black hair strode towards the dexholders. He was holding a small silver box in his hands.

What was most striking about him, though, were his eyes. The colored part was as clear and shiny as a diamond.

The boy walked slowly, almost nonchalantly, towards the group.

"It was very inconvenient to find out that the new function needed something else to work. It is tiresome that I have to come back here to use it."

Professor Oak pointed, shaking, at the silver box. "That's the new prototype!"

The boy glanced at it, almost indifferently. "Yep."

All of the Pokédex Holders took out their Pokéballs. The boy didn't seem to care. He just wandered to a nearby table, looking around.

"Where is it, exactly? I know that you wouldn't have just hidden it in plain sight. But you had to have been testing this thing, so it has to be nearby."

Nine Starter Pokémon, two Pikachus, and one Pichu suddenly appeared in the lab. The boy suddenly grinned.

"Your Pokémon's size works against them in this lab, as it prevents greater maneuverability. Speed is always a must in combat, so I will refrain from fighting you here."

Silver frowned. He knew the boy was right. Starter Pokémon, while powerful, were too large to battle in this confined space. Instead of attacking, he yelled, "Red, Yellow, Gold! It's up to you!"

Yellow, getting it immediately, shouted, "Thunderbolt!"

"PIIIIIIIIIII-"

Just as the Pikachu family's attack was about to be released, a giant blue and silver mass crashed through the walls, sending everyone flying and demolishing every side of the lab except the far side, where Professor Oak stared in shock. Twelve Pokémon and ten trainers were sprawled everywhere in rubble, and the big whatever-it-was had vanished. _What was that?_

"Ah, much better. I must say that I really don't like indoor spaces. Hey, I found it!"

Reaching under a table, the boy ripped off a piece of tape that was holding a small pin to the underside. The boy smiled, and put the pin into a slot in his stolen Pokédex.

"There we go! Now I can find the Artifact," the boy gloated.

Yellow had gotten up. "Not so fast."

The boy looked at her, clearly annoyed, and seemed to twitch in… pain? "Yeah, what do you want… Yellow?"

The blonde girl looked at him, suspicious. "Do I know you?"

The boy looked amused, and said, "No. We've never met. Hmm… allow me to introduce myself. My name is… Nil."

Yellow shook her head. "I don't care what your name is. Do you know how many Pokémon were in this lab before you brought it down? You might have killed a few, or all of them. And you hurt Red, _and I can't forgive that._"

She sent out her Omastar, Omny.

Nil sighed. "I had better things to do today than hurt a little girl. Oh, well…"

The boy pulled out a Pokéball, and it was like no Pokéball Yellow had ever seen. It was large, and had wires and buttons on it.

"Now, who had that interesting… there!" he muttered, looking intently at Red, who was just getting up with the others.

Yellow gasped. Nil's eyes were changing colors. The diamond-clear eyes had shifted to a bright red, the exact same color as Red's eyes.

Pressing a button, Nil threw the ball. "Go, Fiery!"

Out of the ball came an Infernape.

Green looked up, and was thoroughly confused. Omastar was a rock/water-type, and therefore had a double type advantage over the Pokémon that he'd never seen before, but was obviously a fire-type.

Yellow grew angry as she thought of the damage Nil had done, and Omny responded accordingly, growing in strength and power.

Nil was momentarily astounded, but he looked at Yellow, and twitching again, he seemed to understand.

"Your spirit alters your Pokémon in such a way as to make them stronger, almost like an adrenaline rush. A fascinating trick, to be sure, but anything you do will not make it so you are even_ on par_ with my strength. Fiery, Plan S-11/6! Close Combat!"

Green thought he must have blinked. The Infernape vanished.

Omny suddenly let out a horrible scream and fainted, and the Infernape reappeared where it had stood seconds before.

Red looked at Nil, and paused. Nil was standing in exactly the same position that Red normally stood in when _he_ battled!

Yellow didn't miss a beat, just sent out her Golem, Gravvy.

Nil laughed, and returned Infernape. "I have one of those, too!" He sent out a Golem that seemed… different than Gravvy. What's more, he had sent out from the _same Pokéball_ that the Infernape was in.

"Gravvy, Mega Punch!"

"Golem, Bulldoze!"

Gravvy, about to strike Golem, was suddenly knocked roughly to the ground. Nil's Golem had stomped the ground, sending out shockwaves that had pushed rubble up in a huge wave that had hit Gravvy with full force. Gravvy fainted.

Yellow pulled out another Pokéball, but before she could throw it, Red put his hand on her shoulder.

"Yellow, that's enough. I'm going to try now."

* * *

><p>Nil seemed to be enjoying himself, although he was still twitching weirdly.<p>

However, when Yellow stepped away, all traces of involuntary motion on his face stopped. His red eyes bored into Red's, and Nil smirked.

"Ah, the mighty champion, Red of Pallet town. The great fighter, he who crushed Team Rocket and defeated Giovanni, captured Mewtwo, and befriended Deoxys. It's nice to meet you."

Red frowned and asked, "How do you know all that? Have you been spying on us?"

Nil shook his head, but refused to explain.

"Well, fighter, fight me. I have never been beaten. Unlike with your girlfriend, I would like to fight… fairly. How about a three-on-three switch battle, where if all of the three from either side faints, they lose?"

Red was slightly embarrassed at the word 'girlfriend,' but he nodded. This guy's words sort of reminded him of Bruno, the former Elite Four member who only wished for a good opponent.

So Nil sent out Crobat from his complex-looking Pokéball, and Red sent out his Aerodactyl, Aero.

"Aero, Dragon Claw!"

"Crobat, Plan A-6/3! Cross Poison!"

Aero's Dragon Claw hit it's mark at exactly the same time Crobat's Cross Poison hit Aero. However, while Dragon Claw did a lot of damage, Cross Poison nearly tore Aero apart. Not only that, but it was apparent that Aero was also badly poisoned! Aero bellowed, then coughed once, then fainted.

Red didn't know what to make of it. Dragon Claw was very powerful, and Cross Poison was a minor poison-type move. That move shouldn't have been capable of ripping apart Aero's wings and body. That move shouldn't even have been very effective, as Aero was part rock-type.

"Return, Crobat!" Crobat went back into the Pokéball. "Alright, champion, choose your next."

Red made a decision. "Go, Saur!"

A Venusaur popped out of the Pokéball Red threw.

"Excellent choice. Go, Quagsire!"

A bulbous blue Pokémon came out.

Green, who was nearby, was almost as perplexed as he was when the Infernape had come out. Quagsire was a ground/water-type, which was weak to grass twice over. Venusaur also knew the Ultimate Grass Move, Frenzy Plant.

The puny Quagsire wouldn't stand a chance.

Red knew this as well, and with such a powerful trainer, he wasn't taking any chances.

"Saur, Frenzy Plant!"

"Quagsire, Hydro Spear!"

Emerald, who was watching, knew a _lot_ about Pokémon moves. And he knew that there was no such move as 'Hydro Spear.'

Frenzy Plant shot out, seeking to crush Nil's Pokémon. However, Quagsire dug underground, and the Ultimate Move missed. However, the move was still used, and now Saur had to recharge. Chunks of sharp rock shot up out of the ground through newfound water pressure, and then Nil's Quagsire burst from the ground, flipping and slapping the rocks in the air with his tail. Each one became a missile that shot forward and stabbed into Saur. Saur, who was drained from his attack and who was barraged with sharp rocks, fainted.

Silver watched, impressed. He could see that Nil was acting very similarly to how Red usually acted, giving no ground, and improvising for any change in situation. However, Nil had taken it a step further. Nearly every time he had attacked, he had called out a plan number or a move that was unknown to the dexholders. This had given Nil the advantage of surprise. Also, Silver noted, Nil was combining different attack types into moves. The Cross Poison that Crobat had used earlier combined steel and poison-type moves into a devastating combo. 'Hydro Spear' was apparently a move that used high water pressure and attack power to launch rocks at high speeds at the opponent. Combining multiple elemental types into a single move was a great idea, and Silver wondered if he could train his Pokémon to do it, too.

Red was distraught. His Pokémon had not even held up for Nil's first moves. However, he _did_ notice that Nil was acting exactly as Red was, but better. And Red thought he could use that to his advantage.

"Go, Pika!"

Pika hopped into battle and charged electricity throughout his small yellow body.

Nil returned his Quagsire and glanced at the Pikachu.

"Ah, yes. Red's most famous Pokémon, the shocking and terrifying electric _mouse._ May I come closer, Pika?"

Pika hesitated, and then nodded.

Nil came closer and held his hand over Pika's head. Nearly all of the Pokédex Holders gasped. Nil's eyes had turned a bright yellow-brown, and he was moving into a position that only Yellow and Lance had ever used before: he was reading Pika's thoughts!

Much to Red's astonishment, Nil began to cry. The tears flowed, and Nil said, "I understand, but… I will still win."

Pika seemed annoyed at this statement.

Moving back to his side, Nil's eyes shifted back to the color red. He sighed and said, "This is your strongest Pokémon. It has been with you for a long while, and is your greatest friend and ally. As such, it is only right that I treat you to _my_ strongest Pokémon. He joined me last, but he has always been willing to help me. For that, I am eternally grateful. Go, Dialga!"

He tossed the odd Pokéball in the air, and it sprung open.

Dialga, master of time, had come into battle.

For a single instant, it was quiet.

And then Dialga burst forth a roar that could tear time itself.

* * *

><p>"Pika, Ultimate Electric Attack!" Red knew he couldn't hope to win against the legendary Pokémon, but he was going to at least try.<p>

Pika concentrated his power into a single, powerful blast and hurled it at Dialga.

It hit its mark, and seemed to do no damage.

"Dialga, PLAN X!"

Dialga roared again, and then attacked Pika with a Metal Claw. While Pika was reeling, Dialga followed it up with a Dragon Claw. Now Pika was staggering about. Dialga roared, and Draco Meteors rained from the sky. The Pikachu could barely stand. Then something peculiar seemed to happen. Dialga's spikes seemed to grow longer. His chest gem began to glow with an unearthly light. His mouth opened and chest expanded. And then Dialga released the Roar of Time.

Pika's body flashed and Chuchu tried to bolt towards her mate, only to be restrained by a terrified Yellow.

Pika cried out, and seemed to shift from a Pikachu to a Pichu and back, and ripples appeared in the air around him. Red could only gape in astonishment as the effects of the Roar took hold of a Pokémon that couldn't withstand it.

When the Roar ceased, Pika laid sprawled on the ground. He wasn't moving.

"YOU BASTARD!"

"HOW COULD YOU?"

Blue and Green ran forward, and Nil yelled, "Again!"

Dialga blasted the two with the Roar, and when he ceased, Blue and Green weren't there.

"Dialga, please return." Nil addressed this Pokémon different than the others.

Dialga came down and was put inside the strange ball.

Nil surveyed the battlefield. Everything within the battle zone had been ripped apart.

"Alright, everyone. I really must be going, as fun as this was."

Nil turned around, but Ruby, Sapphire, Gold, and Crystal had already gotten behind him.

Gold looked murderous. "You're not going anywhere, shiny-eyes."

They sent out Swampert, Blaziken, Typhlosion, and Meganium. Zuzu, Toro, Explotaro, and Mega.

Nil groaned. "I really don't have all day!" he snapped, throwing his Pokéball again.

Out came his sixth Pokémon, Blissey.

The four in his way almost burst out laughing. Compared to his other Pokémon, Blissey was just too cute.

However, Nil didn't seem amused. "Blissey, Heart Swap on the boy with the white hat and the girl dressed like him. Use Plan G on the other two."

The starter Pokémon started forwards, but stopped when they heard their trainers cry. Turning around, they saw a series of rings envelop Ruby and Sapphire, and Gold and Crystal fall down, features shifting. Hearts full of anger, the Pokemon turned back, but Nil wasn't standing there anymore. Instead, he was flying away on the back of his Crobat.

Not being able to fly, the Pokémon quickly ran to their trainers.

* * *

><p>Yellow was healing Pika (with Chuchu watching anxiously) as Red and Emerald walked over to the fallen four.<p>

Ruby and Sapphire were closer, so they were first up. "Ruby, Sapph, are you guys alright?"

Ruby and Sapphire slowly sat up, eyes closed and rubbing the back of their heads.

"What… happened?" asked Sapphire.

Red didn't see any difference. "I don't know. He used some move called 'Heart Swap.' Does that mean anything to you?"

It was Ruby who answered. "I don't think so; my father's never mentioned it. It might be something from Sinnoh, but I've never been there, so I wouldn't know."

Sapphire had opened her eyes and was staring at Ruby.

Then she looked down at herself.

"WHAT THE FURRET'S GOING ON?"

Now Ruby had opened his eyes, and looked at Sapphire, and then himself.

"HOLY ALTARIA, I'M RUBY!"

Red was thoroughly baffled. "What do you mean, you're Ruby? You're always Ruby."

Emerald's eyes widened as partial understanding came to him.

Ruby now glanced at Sapphire. "…Ruby?"

Sapphire glanced right back. "…Sapph?"

Emerald burst out laughing so hard that he fell down. "HAHAHA, Ruby and Sapphire switched bodies! HAHAHAHA…"

The couple looked like they wanted to strangle him.

"Ugh… as much as I love Sapph, I never wanted to _be_ her."

Ruby (Sapphire) glanced at Sapphire (Ruby). "Why? What's wrong with being me?"

"I can feel the dirt… everywhere! And these clothes… that I made for you… hmm, they fit very well, actually," Sapphire (Ruby) replied.

"Nice time to stroke your ego! These clothes are _so _tight on you, Ruby! How can you even move around?"

"I'm used to it."

Red decided to move on to Gold and Crystal, leaving Emerald to laugh at his fellow dexholders' plight.

* * *

><p>"Um, how are you… guys?"<p>

Gold and Crystal looked different.

Crystal's hair had receded, and her ponytails had vanished. She had grown about four inches, and become more muscular. Her waist had shrunk, and her face had become more rugged.

Gold's change was different. His hair had grown to his shoulders, and he had shrunk. His form had become smooth and lithe, and his face seemed more streamlined and soft.

Gold and Crystal both stood up, and looked at each other.

Crystal sighed. "At least we didn't change bodies."

Gold looked down at himself. "Holy Miltank, look at these huge-"

Crystal whacked him, and Gold went flying.

Red now knew what was going on. "Gold changed into a girl, and you changed into a boy."

Crys paid him no heed, but stared at her (his now) hand. "Holy Moltres! Gold, are you okay?"

Gold was laying on a block of rubble, stunned. "Heh?"

Crys went up to her. "I said, 'are you okay?' I don't seem to know my own strength."

Gold got up and thought about their situation. "Yeah, I guess… you know what this means?"

Crystal looked at her. "What?"

Gold frowned. "I can't make passes at pretty girls anymore."

Crystal glared daggers at Gold. "You couldn't do that anyway, we're together."

Gold stared at him, thoughtfully. "Since when?"

* * *

><p>Professor Oak walked towards Red, avoiding the glass and sharp rocks everywhere. "So how is everyone?"<p>

Red looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there. "Yellow fell asleep after healing Pika because he was very, _very_, injured. Ruby and Sapphire switched bodies, and Emerald's laughing at them. Gold and Crys just switched genders, and Crys is… murdering him… I mean her, over there for some reason. I've had my butt handed to me by a legendary Pokémon. And Blue and Green…" Red stopped. He didn't know about Blue and Green.

Professor Oak felt tears come to his eyes. Green was… what happened to Green?

Dismissing the tears as counterproductive, he walked towards where his grandson was last. Ruby (Sapphire), Sapphire (Ruby), Emerald, and Silver had already moved over there, and they were looking intently at… _something._

Red ran forward. "Juniors… what is it?"

Then he stopped.

His mind boggled at the impossibility of what he was seeing.

Professor Oak looked down as well.

Green and Blue were sitting on the ground. And they were three years old.

* * *

><p><strong>Heh, heh. I've always wanted to see what would happen if Ruby and Sapphire switched bodies. I haven't (Surprisingly) found any other fanfiction where this occurs.<strong>

**I introduced an Original Character, Nil, in this chapter. Later, I will talk about his motives and things like that.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	3. Ch 3: Plans and a Little Bit of Insanity

**This is chapter 3. Enjoy!**

**Note: As Crys and Gold are different genders, 'He' refers to Crys, and 'She' refers to Gold. Try not to be too confused.**

**Also, I didn't like the Ruby (Sapphire) and Sapphire (Ruby) thing I did, so from now on Ruby is Ruby in Sapphire's body, and Sapphire is Sapphire in Ruby's body.**

Chapter 3: Plans and a Little Bit of Insanity

Professor Oak sat in a comfortable armchair, looking from Ruby, to Sapphire, to Gold, to Crystal, to Blue, to Green, and back to Ruby again.

Ruby was uncomfortable. They had tried to stop that guy, Nil, but he had put Ruby in Sapphire's body, and Ruby didn't like it at all. He looked at Sapphire, in his body. It wasn't at all like looking at a mirror, or a picture. Seeing himself through Sapph's eyes was going to be one experience he would take to the grave.

Sapphire had gotten over her discomfort with being in a boy's body an hour ago. She didn't care at all about her shape- after all, she was quite often considered a tomboy, so being in this form almost perfectly matched her personality… excepting the make-up and perfume. She hadn't quite gotten over it being _Ruby's_ body, but she would cope. This was a great opportunity to learn Ruby better.

Gold had bittersweet feelings. On the one hand, she _was_ a _girl!_ She was going to have a lot of fun with this. On the other hand, though, she _liked_ being a boy, and she didn't like boys romantically. Being female meant that it was going to be near impossible to flirt with girls… Not that Crystal would allow it. Oh, well, though. So long as she was in this body, she wouldn't _need_ to look up girls' skirts. She would just look up her own.

Crystal stared at Gold. He was going to prevent her from doing _anything_. It was going to be difficult, but with his new strength he was reasonably sure that he could do it until they changed back to their proper genders.

Blue looked around in confusion, not entirely understanding what was going on. Apparently there were multiple types of the move 'Roar of Time.' One kind had nearly killed Pika. But when it hit her and Green, they had physically and mentally become three-year-olds.

Silver was sitting with Blue on his knee. This was the sister figure in his life. They had protected each other for so long that it was painful for him to see her reduced to this. At least she and Green were able to talk.

Green sat next to Silver, giving out glares like Halloween candy. He didn't know why these people had dragged along him and his… what, sister? How the heck was this girl everyone called Blue related to him?

Emerald was asleep.

They were all sitting in Red's house, which was a couple of houses over from the Professor's destroyed lab. Red's mom had been very surprised by the sudden flood of people, more so then she had been when the ground had shaken about ten minutes before they arrived. However, she let them come in, although she silently questioned why there was a boy wearing a skirt and a girl with a _very _ill-fitting shirt, why there were two little kids with them, and also why everyone was acting funny.

Red had promptly left with Yellow to go shopping. "I don't think we have enough food, so how about you and I go look for groceries, Yellow?"

Without those two, conversation seemed pointless. Professor Oak suggested that they should wait to talk until Red and Yellow got back with food.

So, they waited.

* * *

><p>"We're home!" Red shouted, opening the door.<p>

Sapphire nearly drooled, which Ruby found to be a disgusting look on his own face. "Well? Bring in the food! I'm hungry!"

"Alright, then. I brought sushi with banana peppers in it for Sapph, shrimp and avocado for Ruby, crab and cucumber for-"

"Okay, we get it already!" Gold shouted.

Everyone looked at her. Gold never lost her temper so easily.

"I… I'm just hungry." She whimpered.

Ruby grabbed his food and looked with concern at Sapphire. She was probably going to ruin his body with that sour crap, but today at the carnival (wow, it was still the _same_ day) they had made up for his mistake after Mirage Island. He didn't want to argue, so he just stayed silent.

As Red passed out the food, Ruby and Sapphire bit into their own food at the exact same time.

"BLEGH!"

"EEH, WHAT IS THIS?"

Everyone stared at the couple.

Sapphire didn't understand it. She _loved_ banana peppers. They were delicious. As a kid, she had eaten them and onions like candy, much to every adult's surprise.

Ruby didn't believe what his mouth was telling him. The avocado was making him gag. He had loved avocado since he had gone to a unique restaurant in Johto with his family.

Everyone was still staring at them.

"Well, what is it?" Yellow ventured.

Ruby glanced at Yellow and said the first thing that popped into his head. "We must have switched taste buds, too."

Sapphire looked over at Ruby. "What?"

Ruby looked right back at her. "Yeah, want to trade?"

"Okay."

When they bit into the new food, Ruby still couldn't believe his mouth. This sour stuff was actually pretty good! And from Sapphire's face, he could tell she like hers, too.

* * *

><p>Professor Oak started talking, signaling the start of the discussion. "Alright, let's begin. What do we know about this boy Nil?"<p>

Gold immediately responded, "He's a jerk."

Crystal shook his head. "Gold, how about more constructive information?"

Silver spoke up. "Well, we know that he's a powerful and inventive trainer. The moves he used covered multiple types. He can talk to Pokémon like Yellow. And managing to capture Dialga, that Pokémon from Sinnoh that caused all that fuss awhile ago, means he's extraordinary."

Red shook his head. "I agree that he can use multiple-type moves and that he's extremely powerful, but I cannot believe that he was a child with special powers from Viridian Forest. How was he able to use Yellow's power?"

No one answered.

Blue looked at Silver and asked, "Silvy, what does 'multiple-type' mean?"

Silver replied, "I'll tell you later."

Ruby fidgeted a little. "Hey, I just remembered something. Every time that guy looked at Yellow, he started twitching, like it hurt to look at her or something. Anyone know what that means?"

Yellow seemed concerned. "I don't look that bad, do I?"

Red comforted her. "You look beautiful, Yellow."

"Anyways," Sapphire interjected, "I don't know what the twitching means, but we all noticed his eyes, right? They kept changing color."

Professor Oak's mind raced. "They were clear and shiny at first. Then, right before he fought Yellow, they turned red."

Yellow nodded. "He was mumbling something about someone who _had_ something, and then looked at Red. Come to think of it, his red eyes were exactly the same color as Red's!"

Gold caught on immediately. "And when he looked into Pika's mind, his eyes turned sort of light brown!"

Crystal grabbed Red and pulled him to Yellow. "Red, look at Yellow's eyes. Were they the same color as Nil's when he went to Pika?"

Red flushed slightly and looked. "I think so."

There was a pause.

Ruby broke it. "So what does this mean? His eyes turned into Red's when he fought, and they turned into Yellow's when he used her power."

Professor Oak snapped his fingers. "I got it! Gold, do you remember when I sent you that letter in Johto with everyone's abilities on it?"

Gold nodded. "Yeah, I'm a 'breeder.' Crys is a 'catcher.' Silver's an 'exchanger.' Red's a 'fighter,' Green's a 'trainer,' Blue's an 'evolver,' Yellow's a 'healer.' I don't think we ever gave names to these Hoenn guys."

Professor Oak was nodding. "Emerald is the 'originator.' He can tell a Pokémon's birthplace just by looking at it. Sapphire is the 'reverser.' She can turn any situation around. Ruby is the 'concealer.' He can hide _anything._"

Ruby looked a bit uncomfortable with that, but he let the Professor continue speaking.

"Now, based on the way Nil's eyes changed when he fought people and when he read Pika's mind, I must deduce that he's able to somehow _use_ other people's abilities!"

There was an awed silence.

Then Red burst out, "That makes total sense! And his eyes change to the color of whoever's power he is using at any instant!"

Blue started to cry.

"Eh?" Silver didn't know how to deal with it. Usually it was Blue who ended up comforting him when he was upset. "What's wrong, Blue?"

"That scary old man called me an 'evolver.' I don't want to evolve!"

It was Green, oddly enough, who managed to get Blue to calm down. He stood up and turned towards Silver, and pointed at Blue, and then at the couch they were all on.

Silver lifted Blue off his knee and deposited her next to Green.

Green moved over to her, and then kneeled down, gave her a hug, and whispered something in her ear. Blue immediately burst out laughing.

Yellow looked quizzically at Silver. "What did he do?"

Blue was now hugging Green back, and Green's expression was very soft.

Silver regarded the two and said, "I think the more important question is why."

* * *

><p>Nil had started to break things. The disease, the plague, <em>the <em>_**rot**_, had spread to his arms. Pretty soon it would be visible whenever he moved his hands. He would have to get some gloves, but his appearance wasn't the point of his rage. It was that his body was failing him. His life had a time limit, and it was quickly running out.

Nil calmed down. It really wasn't like him to feel anger… or nervousness… or embarrassment, for that matter. These were all counterproductive and resulted in greater inefficiency. All this new development of the blight on his body meant was that he needed to move faster. Luckily, he was almost there.

He looked in the mirror hanging on his hotel room's bathroom's wall. What reflected back at him was the form of a bare-chested young man with what appeared to be scabs or blisters occupying everything beneath his the center of his chest. Nil ignored them, and concentrated on his face. He couldn't care less for the majority of it. His nose was crooked, the result of a run-in with many Geodude long ago, the one where he had gotten his Golem. His ears seemed too pointy by far. His hair refused to be how he wanted, so he had let it go its own way, with the occasional trim. The only thing he liked about his face was his eyes.

Normally, they were as they were now, sparkling and clear as glass. Whenever he deigned to use another's unique abilities, they changed color. Nil smiled. He had gotten quite the collection of powers from the Pokédex Holders.

Nil frowned at the negative connotation he associated with the phrase 'Pokédex Holders.' It was true that those others were no true heroes, but he himself was a dexholder now, too. That had to mean _something._ If anything, being put into a group with them brought them up, morally.

Shaking his head at the ridiculous conclusion, he brought out his Pokédex and opened it. The silver box had two screens. The one on top was a list of every feature that he could use, and he was able to cycle between them using the controls. The screen on the bottom told him everything about the application that he was currently using, which was the one he had fought so hard to get: the Detector.

During the last couple of hours, he had come to this city and started to fly around it, like he had done with all of the others that he encountered. However, the Detector continued to point at the center of the place, so he had come in and gotten himself a hotel room. This was the city where the Artifact was. The city's name? Lilycove, of Hoenn.

* * *

><p>Gold looked at the two little children, who were now running around the room, and then turned her attention to the others. "Hey, what are we going to do with them? I mean, if we go looking for this guy, we can't take little kids along, it would be too dangerous."<p>

Crys wondered at Gold's behavior. "Hey Gold, why are you acting all funny?"

Gold fidgeted. "I'm not exactly sure what you mean, Super Serious Gal… I mean, Guy!"

Crystal's eyes narrowed. "What I mean is, you seem angrier, and I don't think you would've ever paid attention to the kids normally."

Gold didn't like where he was trying to go with this. "My point still stands. What's going to happen to them?"

Red's mom had walked into the room and was smiling at the three-year-olds.

"Oh, they're so cute! Hey, if you're wondering what to do with them, I could take care of them for you!"

Yellow liked the idea. "Yeah, they'd be perfectly fine with your mom, right, Red?"

Red seemed uncomfortable with the thought, but said, "Sure mom. Just don't dress Blue up in anything _too_ silly. And don't mess with Green, he can be mean sometimes."

"Okay!" His mom cheerfully swept out of the room to make preparations.

Sapphire smiled. "That takes care of that. Alright, what are we going to do about Nil?"

Professor Oak was the one who answered. "To find him, I'm going to need your Pokédexes. You know the resonating that occurs whenever three from the same set get close to each other?"

Emerald nodded. "Yeah, the annoying beeping noise."

"Well, what I'm going to do is upgrade all of yours so that when any of you gets close to his Pokédex, your Pokédex will beep."

Ruby was skeptical. "How come they will do that? Nil's Pokédex doesn't belong to a group of three."

Professor Oak nodded and replied, "Yes, Miss Birch… I mean Ruby, but the resonation is the first thing I put in the Pokédexes when I make them, and Nil's is no different. I was planning to make three of the new ones, anyways."

Red put forward another problem. "The Pokédexes only beep when we all get very close, and the world is huge. How do we find him? If his Crobat is as fast a flier as I saw, he could be anywhere."

Professor Oak sighed. "Yes, Red, it's going to be difficult. But whatever Nil is up to, it can't be good. He said when he entered the lab that he was looking for some sort of Artifact. The Kanto Elite Four looked for the badges. Team Rocket tried to get Mew. Mr. Pryce looked for Celebi and the Time-Capturing device. Teams Aqua and Magma looked for the Red and Blue Orbs. Team Galactic of Sinnoh got their hands on the three 'lake guardians.' Whenever someone has actively looked for 'legends' or 'artifacts' in the past, it has caused incalculable damage each time. So, I can deduce that Nil's searching can bring nothing good.

"To answer your question, though, you will split up. Red and Yellow can look around Kanto, Gold and Crystal can search Johto, Ruby and Sapphire can return to Hoenn, and Silver and Emerald should go to Sinnoh."

Emerald sat up. "Uh, Professor? Doesn't the Sinnoh region have its own dexholders?"

Professor Oak nodded. "It does, but they are currently occupied. The ones Rowan called Diamond and Pearl are out trying to protect the legendary and mirage Pokémon, and Lady Berlitz is apparently trying to conquer the region's battle frontier."

Emerald perked up even more. Sinnoh had a battle frontier? Maybe he could do his hobby with his work again.

Silver looked slightly annoyed. "What happens if we _do_ find him? You all saw his battle with Red. None of us could stand a chance."

Sapphire looked thoughtful. "You know, that's probably only because Red was nearby. If this guy can use any of our abilities, somehow, then wouldn't that mean that Red's battle skills wouldn't be transferred to Nil if Red stayed away?"

Ruby shook his head. "We don't understand what he does enough to counteract it. I say we just spy on him until we know enough to act."

Gold was deep in thought. "Uh-huh, and if we see him, we can get all the others to come by calling them on our Pokégears."

Crystal smiled. "We have a plan."

* * *

><p>Nil was vastly amused.<p>

Lilycove museum was mostly a paintings' museum, but it had a few special things, one of which was the Artifact itself.

Nil realized early on that he wouldn't be able to steal it during normal hours, and that the people in charge probably would not just give the Artifact up.

So he left them a little note.

'I am going to steal item 42 tonight. Be prepared.'

Watching the guards scurry about like Durants was funny. Nil enjoyed chaos. It made even the most disciplined group get reduced to a huge mass of confused individuals.

Nil looked at his watch. Ten minutes to action. Fiery would take out the guards, and Crobat would saturate the cameras with his Confuse Ray, effectively scrambling their inner mechanisms. Golem would then Bulldoze the walls down, and Nil would stride in, take the item, and leave.

The guards probably expected Nil, as a thief, to come in quietly and take item 42 without anyone noticing. Nil had decided that doing so would be too much of a bother.

* * *

><p>In the museum, Lilycove's Mayor talked to the powerful trainer. "I can't say how much this assures me that everything is going to be all right. Item 42 had been passed down from generation to generation in my family, ever since we lived in Sinnoh. I'm glad that you could take time out of your busy lifestyle to come help us. After all, we have no Gym Leader to protect us."<p>

"No problem, mayor. I'll do my best," the strong trainer replied.

"How do you think he will come in?"

"I'm not sure. The note would seem to suggest that he's arrogant enough to believe that he won't get caught, no matter what he does."

The Mayor seemed concerned, but he knew that probably nothing could get past this famous trainer. "I hope he's not that good. Anyways, I've got to go now. I have an appointment to keep. Thank you, Wally."

Wally grinned. "Anything to help people out."

* * *

><p>It was time. Nil took a deep breath. Fiery moved quickly and efficiently, downing all the guards and their Pokémon at the same time as Crobat blasted the cameras. Nil didn't care if he was seen by someone, so long as he wasn't recorded. He was an expert of chaos, after all, and becoming a legend to be retold by people who didn't know him well was better than being reduced to human on a screen.<p>

He was wearing casual clothes, a T-shirt and shorts, as well as pair of rugged black shoes. This wasn't his job; this was his lifestyle, so he didn't feel the need to wear anything special, despite the fact that the short clothes revealed the _rot_ on his legs and arms.

Nil admired Fiery's speed quite a bit. Looking down at his watch, he realized that Fiery had defeated thirty guards and forty Pokémon in less than fifteen seconds. Crobat finished at about the same time.

Nil returned them to the single Pokéball he owned, and sent out Golem.

"Golem, Bulldoze!"

Golem's attack plowed a hall all the way to the display case that held items 40-45.

Returning Golem, he walked calmly down the row of holes that was now there.

He stopped.

In front of him was a trainer with green hair and light-blue eyes, as well as a sort of wristband with Pokéballs on it.

Nil smiled. "And who are… ah, so your name's Wally, eh?"

Wally flinched. "Yeah. You obviously know me, so tell me, who are you?"

Nil didn't answer. "Hmm… you're a former Pokédex Holder who started out when you caught a Kecleon with Ruby… you helped Norman release Rayquaza, and…" Nil burst out laughing and crying at the same time.

Wally was bewildered. "What the heck? How do you know all that? Did you talk to my cousin? And what's so funny?" Wally's cousin, Wanda, was the only person other than Ruby himself who knew about the Kecleon's connection with Ruby.

Nil gasped for breath. "No, I haven't met your cousin… What was so funny was that you have an incurable disease, too." Nil gestured at his legs.

Wally gasped. The boy's legs looked sickly white, with blisters, pustules, and scars covering every inch of his flesh.

However, Wally had a job to do, even if he felt shock at this person's skin. "You've come for item 42, I suppose."

Nil smiled again. "Yeah, it's nice to get straight and to the point. Are you defending it?"

Wally nodded.

Nil grinned. This was a Pokédex Holder, albeit one who no longer had a Pokédex. This was going to be an enjoyable battle.

"My name is Nil. Let's have fun, shall we?"

* * *

><p>Wally was lying on the ground, his Pokémon all around him. The thief had shown overwhelming power, and when Wally had made Nil's Quagsire faint with his Cacturne's Needle Arm, Nil's eyes turned from shiny to yellow-brown, and he had healed his Pokémon back to full health.<p>

Wally didn't understand how this could happen, but when the healing occurred, it had given Nil enough of an advantage to thoroughly crush him.

The green-haired boy sat injured in a pile of rubble, and Nil moved towards the display. One of the items was labeled '42.' It was a peculiar piece that seemed to be made out of violet coral with an orange end. Nil's hands were shaking as he picked it up.

He had the Artifact.

The Azure Flute was his.

* * *

><p>It had been a few days since the Pokédex Holders had parted ways.<p>

Gold and Crystal had gone to Johto.

"You know, Super Serious Guy, that if this guy's looking for some sort of special object, it probably will be either in a place like Hoenn's Cave of Origin or some sort of collection somewhere, right?"

Crys ground his teeth. Over the past few days, he had gotten more and more annoyed with his male form. For one thing, the arms were longer than he was used to, so every time he reached for something, he either accidently pushed it away or hurt his hand. For another, his aim with kicking Pokéballs was _way_ off of what it was normally. Added on top of all that was Gold constantly reminding him of the fact that he was a guy by repeating that altered nickname, over and over.

But he did have to concede that Gold had a good point.

"Collection? You mean… like a rich person's stuff?"

"Yeah, something like that."

Crys frowned. "There are not really any huge mansions or overly rich people in this region, but we do have the Ruins of Alph."

Gold nodded. "That's probably where it would be if it was in Johto."

* * *

><p>Red and Yellow walked around aimlessly in Lavender Town. They had come here after going to Vermillion City and asking around.<p>

Yellow stretched. "You know, this is probably going to take a long time. After all, I doubt Nil is going to stay in one place."

Red sighed. "I know, but do you have any better ideas? The Kanto police force and even Interpol are going after this guy, now, but they haven't done better than we have in finding him."

Yellow hummed. "At least we're together. It's not so bad if it's us."

Red nodded, smiling. "Yeah, it's not so bad."

* * *

><p>Silver sighed. He had been cooped up with a hyperactive Emerald on a plane for five hours. The airport of Kanto was located north of Cerulean Cove, and it had taken a couple days to get there.<p>

"Kanto Airlines number 12, no-stop flight to Sunyshore City will be landing shortly," The intercom announced.

Silver almost cheered. "Finally."

* * *

><p>Ruby and Sapphire had taken a boat to Lilycove from Vermillion, and had just now arrived.<p>

"AAAH! What have you _done_ with my clothes?"

Sapphire walked out of her cabin. "I told you when we first swapped. Your clothes were too tight."

She had cut his pants to her knees, producing ragged-edged shorts, and had donned a black T-shirt and a camouflage jacket. She had gotten rid of his hat, and the scars on his head were covered by some of his hair.

Ruby looked at his body and whimpered at the loss of style. "I didn't change any of _your_ clothes when _I_ was… getting dressed."

Sapphire blushed at the thought of Ruby dressing her body. "That's because those clothes fit me just fine! Your clothes were squeezing the life out of my… I mean your…" Sapphire cut herself off, blushing a very deep, crimson red.

Ruby gave her a look of consternation. Then he face-palmed. "Ay-yi-yi…"

The people around them were staring at them funny now.

Ruby and Sapphire got off the boat, and looked up at a billboard hanging on a wall next to the harbor. On it was a wanted poster for Nil.

"Heh?" Ruby and Sapphire both knew that even if Interpol became involved, there was no way to get 'Nil' wanted posters up this quickly. As they were looking at it, they heard a shout.

Sapphire turned around and saw a guy with green hair and sky-blue eyes run up to them. Or, more accurately, up to her.

"Ruby! It's nice to see you again! Hmm… I like the new look!"

Bewildered, Sapphire turned towards Ruby. "Hey, do you know this guy?"

Ruby inwardly smacked his forehead. "Yeah, it's Wally. He's a trainer from Petalburg."

Wally was confused. "Ruby… you don't… recognize me?"

Sapphire searched Wally's face. She found it to be full of innocence and optimism. "Eh… Wally, as a friend of Ruby's… I think you should know something."

* * *

><p>To give Wally credit, he did hold in his laughter for a much longer time than Emerald had.<p>

"Ruby's… Ruby's…" Wally couldn't stop giggling at the oddness of the situation.

Ruby gave him an annoyed look. "Yes, I'm stuck in Sapph's body."

Wally's merriment renewed at this.

They were now in Wally's hotel room, and Ruby had told him everything.

Sapphire held up the poster she had grabbed. "Enough laughing! We came here for this guy, Nil, and we get here and this thing is up on the wallboard! What do you know about him?"

Gradually, Wally calmed down. "Nil? Oh, he burst through into the Lilycove Museum, squashed me, grabbed something, and left."

Ruby and Sapphire got excited. "What did he grab?"

Wally waved his hand. "Just some old thing from Sinnoh called the Azure Flute. It had been in the Mayor's family for a long time, but it didn't seem to be all that valuable to me."

Ruby and Sapphire got on their Pokégears, one calling Gold and Emerald, one calling Red.

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter I brought in Wally, and I opened Nil up a little.<strong>

**I was right! Switching Ruby's and Sapphire's bodies _was_ fun!**


	4. Chapter 4: Sinnoh

**Here's Chapter 4.**

**I'd like to repeat, once again, that I don't own Pokémon.**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 4: Sinnoh<span>

Green, surprisingly, was having fun.

The first thing he remembered was an extremely loud noise, followed by being covered in cloth. When the cloth was removed, he and a girl were surrounded by a lot of people. They called him 'Green' and the girl 'Blue.' Then they took him to a house, where they talked a while, and then left. The only ones left were him, Blue, and a woman with dark black hair and blue eyes.

Green didn't entirely understand it at first, but as the people were talking, he thought he got it.

The raven-haired woman the other tall people had left him with was his mother. She was extremely quirky, but very kind, and Green was glad to have her for a parent.

The girl, 'Blue,' could only be his sister, then.

Blue was an interesting person to Green. She was nearly always happy and energetic. Every day, she was wearing something new, the product of their mom's desire to dress her up. And every day, Green found out something new about his sister.

She didn't like to be poked, but she _really_ liked to be tickled. She enjoyed ruining things more than making things, although that only applied with anything Green made. She loved stuffed dolls, and her favorite was a Jigglypuff doll their mom brought home one day. Blue was also one for lots of contact, and so every time she entered a room, she immediately ran to Green and hugged him.

Green at first didn't like the hugs, but he was warming up to them as time went on.

Blue didn't seem to enjoy sweet cereal, and much preferred the blander foods and fruits, something Green approved of. If something was too sweet, that meant that there was something wrong with it.

From time to time, an old guy named 'Professor Oak' popped in on the family, seemingly at random, with a girl called 'Daisy.' They would bring his mom into the kitchen and they would talk, and then the Professor and Daisy would leave. During these times, he would play with Blue.

One day, Green and Blue decided to have a Pokémon battle with dolls. It was only a pretend one, but for some reason, they got _so _serious.

And then their mom walked in, saw what was going on, and laughed.

"Ha ha ha ha… You guys are so much like Red was!" Still laughing, she walked away to prepare lunch.

Green and Blue talked about it, and then decided that what their mom said meant that they had an older brother named Red. Blue was most concerned.

"Mommy doesn't seem good with names. She named us all after colors!"

Green wasn't worried. "Well, you have blue eyes, and you're Blue, and I have green eyes, and I'm Green. Maybe older brother has red eyes!"

Blue squeaked slightly, and whispered, "Red eyes? That must be scaaaryy."

"Don't worry, Blue. If big brother is mean, I'll protect you!"

The days went by, and Green was more and more comfortable with his life. He loved his mom, he loved his house, and he even loved it when Professor Oak and Daisy came around. But most of all, he loved his sister, Blue.

* * *

><p>Red and Yellow were on the phone, using the 'conference call' feature of the Pokégear to talk to everyone at once.<p>

The raspy voice of Professor Oak came out. "Apparently, the Azure Flute was some sort of religious item. It was played during certain rituals in very old times in the Sinnoh region."

Crystal's voice was pretty high for someone who had been turned into a boy. "Um… religious? What religion, exactly?"

"Well, according to this old textbook I got from the Professor Rowan, the ancient humans of Sinnoh worshiped some deity that's called the 'Original One.' According to the texts, the Original One was born from an egg, and then created the universe with one thousand arms."

Gold snickered. "He would need a lot of deodorant, then!"

Everyone could hear the sound of Crys scolding her. Apparently, despite the gender change, the couple from Johto continued their relationship exactly as it had been before.

There was a pause with some babbling in the background, and then Crys spoke again. "According to Bugsy, a lot of the Unown scripture here in the Ruins of Alph refers to this 'Original One' that you talked about. Anyone have ideas about what this might mean?"

"I don't care, exactly, so long as we get out bodies switched back." Sapphire stated.

Red thought that comment was completely off track, but he decided to humor the Hoenn girl-in-Ruby's-body. "Let's forget the Azure Flute for now. Anything on the move 'Heart Swap' that Nil used? Or 'Plan G?' Even if it was just about 'Roar of Time' I think it would be helpful."

Professor Oak sighed. "Well, there's absolutely nothing at all about a 'Plan G.' There's quite a lot about the Roar of Time, and there actually is a small bit about 'Heart Swap.'"

Ruby's voice (actually Sapphire's) almost seemed wistful. "There is? That's good. I'm not sure if I can spend any more time like this, with Sapph wrecking my body."

Professor Oak sounded uninterested. "'Heart Swap' is a move that takes two or more people or Pokémon and switches their bodies around."

"Thank goodness I didn't end up inside of Toro, at least," Sapphire interrupted.

Oak continued as if she hadn't spoken. "It's the Signature Move of a mirage Pokémon that's called 'Manaphy.' That's strange, because Nil used it with his Blissey, didn't he?"

Yellow nodded beside Red. "Yeah, that _is_ very strange."

Silver's voice was quiet. "It doesn't matter for Nil, then. He is such a great trainer that he can teach Pokémon moves that they aren't meant to learn."

"Hmm… that's all I've read about that particular move. Roar of Time, on the other hand, is very well documented in Rowan's report, with power, type, accuracy, and effects all spelled out. I suppose it helps to run into the thing first-hand, right?"

Emerald sounded impatient. "Yeah, yeah, so what does it do?"

The Professor sounded hurt at Emerald's tone. "It tears right through the temporal rift, causing blatant time abnormalities that the normal mind cannot possibly comprehend. It has been known to repeat a specific time window over and over again, cause indescribable pain at enormous levels, age or de-age whatever is in range, cause time travel, and also make it so various objects are frozen in eternal present."

Gold sounded confused. "What? Could you tone it down to _my_ level, please?"

Professor Oak sighed. "Dialga roars, and then things happen. What happened to Pika was one of them. What happened to my grandson and Blue was another. However, it can also make you do the same action many times, repeatedly. It makes it so certain things can't be moved, because time is locked around them. The move can also cause time travel. The only cure for any of the permanent effects is another blast of the Roar."

Silence. Each one of the dexholders thought about the new information.

"So what does this mean? What are we going to do?" Silver asked.

Professor Oak responded tentatively. "The Azure Flute is a Sinnoh relic. 'Heart Swap' and 'Roar of Time' are both Sinnoh moves. Nil had two Sinnoh Pokémon on his team, and Sinnoh Pokémon can't be found in Kanto, Johto, or Hoenn. I think it's safe to assume that wherever Nil is going and whatever he is doing, it must be in Sinnoh.

"Therefore, all of you should go over to where Silver and Emerald are, right away."

Red nodded. "Alright, Professor, we'll go there right now."

The other dexholders agreed one by one, and Red turned the Pokégear off.

He turned towards Yellow with mounting excitement. "Well, what do you know? We're going to Sinnoh!"

Yellow smiled. Her boyfriend had such simple pleasures.

* * *

><p>Ruby and Sapphire were saying goodbye to Wally.<p>

"You know, it's a little frustrating to come all this way south just to suddenly turn around and go all the way north," Sapphire said, annoyed.

Ruby nodded. "I wish we knew what Nil was doing. That would make everything easier."

Wally paused, suddenly remembering something. "Hey guys, do you know anything about his eyes? When I was fighting him, they suddenly changed color."

Sapphire turned so quickly that she almost hit Ruby in the face. "What color did it change to? Red?"

Wally shook his head. "It changed to a sort of light brown, and then he healed a Pokémon of his that I fainted."

Ruby's mind raced. "That would mean that he could use Yellow's power hundreds of miles away from her…"

Sapphire looked at him, worried. "We'd better hurry then. There's no telling what Nil could do."

* * *

><p>Silver had finally silenced Emerald.<p>

Of course, there wasn't really any normal way to shut the kid up. If Silver played a game with him, Emerald would keep talking. If Silver asked him to be quiet, Emerald would take offense and become louder. Even if Silver duct-taped Emerald's mouth shut, the short eleven-year-old would keep making noise.

So, Silver drugged Emerald's soda. Emerald went out like a light.

Silver had never really liked loud, unnecessary noises. Blue had been the only exception, ever.

* * *

><p>Gold and Crystal headed towards the Lake of Rage airport, which was brand new and only a couple of miles north of the lake itself.<p>

"Blasted… bugs!" Gold was very annoyed. Yanma, Gligar, and other assorted bug-type Pokémon had been irritating her for hours.

Crys was astonished. Gold was usually carefree and cheerful. He didn't know why female Gold acted so sensitively to everything. "Uh… Gold?"

"Go Explotaro!" The Typhlosion popped out, questioningly.

Now Crystal was a little concerned. "Gold…?"

"Explotaro, Flamethrower!"

"Gold?"

Explotaro took a deep breath, and then spurt fire every direction.

The crowd of bug Pokémon cleared in less than five seconds.

Crys sighed. That was _one_ way to clear an area.

* * *

><p>Red and Yellow passed through Cerulean City.<p>

They had almost gotten out of the northern gate when Misty strode through, shaking her head and muttering to herself. Then she noticed Red.

"Red? Red!"

Red stopped. "Um… hello, Misty. What are you doing?"

Misty smiled, took Red by the arm, and spun him around. "Oh, that doesn't matter so much. Actually, I had wanted to show you something. It's at my house."

"Stop." The voice was Yellow's. The moment Misty had touched Red, Yellow had become cold.

Last time Misty had seen Red, Yellow was unsure about her relationship with the Champion. Misty was a Gym Leader who was another possible candidate for Red's heart, although the Champion had been oblivious to her feelings, just as he had been with Yellow's. However, ever since the events at the carnival, the blonde girl was _very_ sure where everything stood. Red was Yellow's. That meant that Misty couldn't have him.

So terrible was that one word, Misty had nearly fallen over in fright. "What… Yellow?"

Yellow gave her a very mean look. "Red and I are just passing though right now. We can't be bothered by anyone, not even you. Sorry." She didn't sound that sorry.

Misty was scared, and let go of Red. "Oh… okay. Uh… see you later, Red?"

Red shrugged. "Maybe."

Misty fled.

Red looked at Yellow, evaluating her angry face and clenched fists. The only time he'd ever seen her _this_ angry was when someone harmed their Pokémon intentionally. "Yellow, why did you act so… touchy to Misty?"

Yellow realized that she had bothered Red when she had warded Misty off. "Misty wanted to take you from me," she whispered quietly.

It apparently wasn't quiet enough. "Yellow… you know I love you. I'm not going to go off cavorting with every girl that I see. I'm _not_ Gold. Misty is not going to change anything between us."

Yellow was reassured. "Okay, Red. I trust you." She frowned. "I'm just not sure that I trust her."

Red laughed. "Alright, understood. Come on, Yellow. Now that that ugly situation's over, we have a plane to catch."

* * *

><p>Nil looked over the instructions. Now that he had the Azure Flute, there were a few things that needed to be done before it could be used. Nil sighed. For the longest time, his goal seemed impossible due to the fact that no other person he had met had felt the same way that he did. That and the <em>rot<em> slowly creeping up his body had nearly caused him to give up.

The solution was hard to find, but he had come across it after several years of hard searching.

The tablet the ritual was on was unimaginably _old_, but it was incredibly clear. Other than the flute, he needed a few tidbits that were located in his home region of Sinnoh. Each needed to be obtained in a certain order, and all needed to be brought to a specific place.

Nil re-read the first item over and over again. When he was absolutely certain that he what he read was not a mistake of mistranslation or misunderstanding, he smiled, sadly.

He was going to Snowpoint City. He was going home.

* * *

><p>The dexholders had all finally arrived after a few days.<p>

Each one of them was standing outside room 23 of Sunyshore's Sunny Hotel. According to Silver, this was where he and Emerald were waiting for the rest.

Crys knocked on the door. Silver opened it.

"Uh… hi, Silver. How's Emerald been doing?"

"…"

Ruby, suddenly suspicious, walked into the room. Emerald was on the couch, sleeping.

"It's all right! He's just sleeping. Emerald, wake up."

The rest of the group walked in and looked at Emerald.

"Unh… Sapph… why do you always have to be so loud? Zzz…"

Ruby sighed. Being in Sapph's body had made him more aware to how the others felt about Sapph. He wished the others could see what he saw: a pretty, industrious, strong girl.

On second thought, he wanted to keep Sapph for himself, never mind what the others thought.

"Dude, Emerald. It's not Sapphire, remember? It's Ruby…"

Emerald scratched his nose. "Hee hee, wild girl and prissy boy swapped bodies… but the Pecha berry muffins were good…"

Sapphire turned to Silver. "How long has he been sleeping for?"

"…"

Gold looked closely at Silver. "Silver, buddy? What's wrong?"

Silver held up a bottle that read 'Miltank super-glue.' Then he pointed at a few cups on a coffee table, and then at his mouth.

Crys looked at the snoozing Emerald. "He put glue in your drink, and then fell asleep, and now you can't talk."

Silver nodded.

Crystal thought about it. Emerald wouldn't do anything like that, would he? Only one way to be sure. "Emerald, stampeding Tauros!"

Emerald shot out of bed. "I'm awake, I'm awake! Huh?"

Everyone was staring at him. "Uh, hi guys, what's going on?"

Crys confronted him. "Emerald. Did you put glue in Silver's drink?"

Emerald rubbed his eyes and retorted, "Yeah, but only because he put something in my drink, too!"

Now everyone was staring at Silver. Silver was still.

Gold grabbed Silver's shoulder. "I'm sure there was a good reason for it. Meanwhile, let's get that glue out of your mouth." She dragged the red-haired boy into the bathroom, closely followed by Crystal.

* * *

><p>After the glue was out of Silver's mouth, the group decided to go to the foremost expert of Pokémon in Sinnoh: Professor Rowan, whose lab was in Sandgem town. After the long plane flights, the last thing they wanted to do was fly there, but it was the quickest way, so they got on the backs of the flying Pokémon that they carried.<p>

* * *

><p>A couple of hours later, they landed in front of a large building. They had followed a map from Sunyshore and flown over a large group of mountains that were labeled 'Mt. Coronet Range,' and they had managed to get to Sandgem Town without any problems.<p>

Sapphire knocked, and a couple of moments later, an old man with a harsh face answered the door. "Hello, kids. What do you need?"

In unison everyone took out their Pokédexes and held them up.

Professor Rowan blanched, and then let them in. "So you are the senior Pokédex Holders, huh?"

Red nodded. "That's us."

Rowan looked at him. "And you are the Indigo league Champion, correct?"

Red nodded again. "That's me. I'm Red."

Rowan smiled. "Heh-heh… When I told her the Kanto/Johto Champion was coming, she just couldn't resist meeting you. It will be interesting to see how you two get along."

Turning towards a flight of stairs, he yelled out, "Cynthia! He's here!"

The door at the top of the stairs opened, and a woman in black with gray eyes and long blonde hair walked out. She looked excited.

Red looked up, curiously. He had heard of the Champion of Sinnoh from the Pokémon League President, but he had never met her.

Cynthia ran down the stairs, smiling. "Hello, which one of you is Red?"

Red raised his hand, and then offered it to Cynthia. "Nice to meet you, Cynthia."

Cynthia shook it, and then said, "It's hardly ever that two champions of different leagues meet at all. May I ask, what are you doing in Sinnoh? Professor Rowan didn't tell me."

The next hour was spent introducing everyone and explaining their situation. After they were done, Cynthia looked closely at Ruby and Sapphire. "You say that you two were affected by the move Heart Swap?"

Sapphire nodded. "Yeah, you know anything about it?"

Cynthia shook her head. "My research has primarily consisted of Dialga, Palkia, and a mysterious place called the 'Distortion World.' Before you told me, I didn't even know what Heart Swap was. Professor Rowan knows more about it, right, Professor?"

Professor Rowan nodded and pointed at the swapped duo. "When we're done talking, you're going to come with me, and we'll talk about it in private."

Cynthia then looked at Red. "Roar of Time, though, I researched thoroughly. I'm amazed that this trainer, Nil, managed to capture Dialga, of all Pokémon. Dialga and Palkia almost destroyed the entire Sinnoh region."

Yellow nodded. "We don't know precisely where Nil is, but we're almost completely sure that he's in Sinnoh somewhere."

Cynthia got up. "I'll call the gym leaders so that they'll be expecting him."

* * *

><p>Nil walked towards his house. The item needed collecting, but it could wait. There was no specific time limit, other than the time it took for the <em>rot<em> to kill him.

When he was young, he had grown up in this house with a brother and sister. Their parents loved each other, and though Nil had felt that there was something wrong with the Pokémon world in general, he nevertheless was content in that home.

Until his father died, that is.

Nil's mother had wasted away not long after that when Nil was thirteen. His siblings, who were twelve and ten, had split up with him the day of their mom's funeral. Rob had said something about becoming the best, and Victoria had only winked and looked mischievous when asked about _her_ plans.

The house, though, was still Nil's home.

Nil opened the door and stepped inside. Slowly walking forward, he stopped in front of a picture on the fireplace mantel. It was a picture of all of them, Nil, dad, mom, Rob, and Vic, and they were smiling.

Nil sighed. Those days were gone.

He turned around, having paid homage to his past life, and one question remained with him.

Why was it that people had to die before others could see the right path?

* * *

><p>Nil felt that he didn't really need a plan. He simply walked straight up to the gym and entered. After all, challengers could do that at any time.<p>

"_Welcome, child of destiny._" The strange statue spoke in a soft voice.

"Golem, Strength!"

The statue smashed into pieces. It would speak no more.

* * *

><p>Candice was relaxing on a reclining chair. Other than a phone call from Cynthia, this had been a very slow day. There was nothing to do.<p>

_CRASH!_ The lightly-dressed girl jerked out of her seat. _What was that?_

Now there were yells and screams. It must have been a challenger, but Candice had never heard noises like this when challengers fought her gym's trainers.

A boy with very dark brown hair, dressed in nothing more than a long-sleeved shirt and jeans walked onto her podium.

Candice gasped. The boy's eyes had no color. This was the one that Cynthia had mentioned.

Nil grinned at her. "What, were you expecting somebody?"

Candice was angry. "What do you want?"

Nil shrugged. "Nothing that you would give me willingly."

Candice was frightened by that statement. It sounded _so_ wrong. "You're going to… have your way with me?"

Nil groaned at what she was implying. "No, silly girl. Your mind took that to the wrong level. What I _do _need from you will be… much more painful."

Candice sent out her Froslass. "Whatever you want, I'm not giving it to you!"

Nil laughed. "But of course. I did say you wouldn't give it to me willingly, did I not? Hmm… your Pokémon are going to be a breeze."

He sent out his Infernape, Fiery.

Candice's eyes widened. There was no way that her Pokémon could stand up to fire-types.

But he said he would hurt her, so she needed to defend herself.

"Froslass, Ominous Wind!"

The Infernape sat through the blast of air, and when it lifted, Fiery seemed almost bored.

"My turn. Fiery, plan C-8/15! Flame Wheel!"

The Infernape spun his arms around, flames gathering around his wrists, and then jumped in the air and landed a critical hit on Froslass, who fainted on impact.

Candice was scared. No one had ever beaten Froslass that quickly before. Returning her Froslass, she sent out her Weavile.

"Weavile, Taunt!"

Weavile went up to Infernape and started to pick on him.

Nil was amused. "Taunt is a move that makes it so Pokémon can only use attack moves. Luckily for me, Fiery only _knows _attack moves. Fiery, Cut!"

Weavile was knocked out immediately.

Candice was panicking. If this had been any other trainer, she would have been really amazed. This trainer, though, with his diamond eyes and entertained expression, made her blood run cold. She regretted leaving the rest of her Pokémon upstairs now, but at least she had her strongest for last. "Go, Glaceon!"

Eevee's ice-type evolution came out of the third Pokéball. This was Candice's pride and joy, this beautiful little Pokémon.

Nil sighed. "This is your strongest? You shouldn't have left your Pokémon upstairs, you know."

Candice froze. How did this guy know that? "What, did you _spy_ on me?"

Nil didn't answer, and his eyes turned red. More than anything, that was what caused Candice to despair.

"Fiery, Blast Burn!"

The Ultimate Move wiped out Glaceon, who didn't have any chance at all.

Candice was blown off her feet. She started to cry.

"Sssssh… it will all be over soon…"

Producing a knife, he moved closer to her. Candice cried louder.

Then, Nil was gone. Candice stopped crying. _What…?_

She looked down at her hand. It was slashed open, and it _was_ very painful, but it was cut as if Nil hadn't wanted to cause much real damage. Despite that, there was a lot of blood everywhere. Candice frowned. That was it? A little cut on the palm of her hand, and it was over? She needed to call Cynthia.

* * *

><p>Nil was flying on the back of his Crobat, feeling satisfied.<p>

_Item number one: blood from the leader of the north? Check._

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter was gratifying. I'm glad I got to express the characters more.<strong>


	5. Chapter 5: Second Encounter

**This is Chapter 5.**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 5: Second Encounter<span>

Cynthia was on the phone, and she was very loud, attracting all of the dexholders' attention. "Nil was there? What did he do?... Oh, Candice, are you all right?... I see… Are you sure that there was nothing else?... Okay, thanks, Candice."

Cynthia turned to the group. "Candice, our Gym Leader of Snowpoint City, was attacked by Nil. She says that after she was defeated, he cut her hand and left."

Yellow looked confused. "Why would he do that? That doesn't make any sense."

Cynthia shook her head. "I have no idea. It apparently wasn't even a very _bad_ wound, either."

Ruby didn't understand, either. "He _has_ the Azure Flute. Why would he attack a Gym Leader and then cut her hand, _only_ her hand, for no reason?"

Sapphire had an idea. "Maybe he's trying to scare us."

Gold didn't think so. "That doesn't make any sense. He's scary in and of himself. He doesn't need to resort to such tactics in order to be frightening."

Red was thoughtful. "Perhaps… there's other things he needs to do before the flute gets used?"

Emerald stared at him. "You know, up 'til this point, I don't think we've given the flute much thought. We barely know anything about it, other than a general description of it and a few things about a 'ritual.' Professor Rowan, do you know anything about the Azure Flute ritual?"

"Other than that it was dedicated to a deity called the 'Original One' and that it was done long ago, no, not very much."

Cynthia paused. "I'm going to go ask Lucian if he knows anything about it. He's one of my Elite Four, and he reads like lightning."

Red flinched at the thought of his_ own_ Elite Four. "Okay, Cynthia. While you do that, I think that we'll try to find Nil."

Cynthia smiled, and pulled out a Pokéball. "Alright, I'll see you, then." She sent out her Garchomp, climbed on its back, and flew away.

Silver was surprised. "Whoa… that's a big Pokémon."

Crystal waved his hand. "Yeah, yeah, back to Nil. I think…"

He was interrupted by four people who came through the door with a bang.

"Professor Rowan! Was that Cynthia that we just saw?"

The boy who just spoke was wearing a white and orange shirt and a green scarf. He had oddly shaped blonde hair, and seemed incredibly hyperactive.

Beside him was another boy who had black hair, a red hat, and a red scarf. He was eating a couple of rice balls.

Behind the pair were two men, one of whom was a little chubby and had strange eyes, and the other was-

"Mr. Director!" Red, exclaimed, surprised.

The Director looked from the chubby man to Red. "What? Ch-champion Red? What are you doing in Sinnoh?"

The blonde boy swung around quickly. "Champion? As in Champion of Indigo League, or Hoenn?"

The Director looked at the boy. "Of Indigo League, of course."

Ruby was looking curiously at the new arrivals. "Um, Professor, who are these?"

Rowan smiled. This had been a good day for visitors. "Ruby, meet your juniors. This young man is Pearl, and the one beside him is Diamond."

Diamond looked up from his food. "Juniors… what? Junior of what?"

As one the entire group took out their Pokédexes.

Diamond and Pearl _gaped_.

Diamond was the first to speak. "…So… many… Pokédexes…"

Yellow tried to start a conversation. "So, Diamond and Pearl, I heard from Professor Oak that you two were looking for legendary and mirage Pokémon?"

The chubby man nodded. "Yeah, and I got such _great_ footsteps!"

_The man must be crazy,_ Silver decided.

The Director shook his head. "This is Dr. Footstep. He can tell what a Pokémon's general feelings are by looking at their footprints."

"Ooh, ooh! You all have Pokémon that I've never _seen_ before! Can I have their footprints?"

Pearl quickly interrupted. "Yeah, we've been finding legends and mirages all over the place. We've found Cresselia, Rotom, and Manaphy. They're with us now."

Ruby and Sapphire stiffened. "Manaphy? Really?"

Pearl looked up. "Uh, yeah. Manaphy. Why?"

Ruby and Sapphire were dancing around the room. Pearl was confused. "Uh, s-seniors? Anything wrong with those two?"

Gold laughed. "Those two swapped bodies. The move used was 'Heart Swap,' which is the Signature Move of Manaphy."

Sapphire ran up to Pearl. "Can we see it? PLEASE?"

Diamond and Pearl looked at each other, and then looked uncomfortable. "Sure."

Diamond reached into his bag and pulled out an egg that was blue with yellow and red markings.

Ruby and Sapph stared at it. "What is this?" Ruby asked.

Pearl looked like he didn't want to say it. "A Manaphy egg."

Ruby and Sapphire fell over.

Crystal took one look at it and said, "Give it to Gold."

Dia searched his eight seniors' faces. "Who's Gold?"

* * *

><p>Nil was seriously becoming irritated with his scavenger hunt. He had found item one, and had also acquired item two after trudging through sewers. He looked at the tablet.<p>

_**A drop of the north's strongest blood. The most Griseous of the spheres.**_

He had gotten Candice's blood, no problem. The Griseous Orb required him to go to a place he hoped he would never see again.

_What's next? A trimming of Volkner's toenails? The tears of Cynthia's Garchomp?_

Nil knew there was only one item left, and for that he was most grateful for. He was in an incredibly foul mood after going down a manhole.

The Griseous Orb wasn't really an 'orb,' per se. It was two goldenrod-colored triangular prisms on top of each other, forming a diamond shape. However, Nil didn't doubt its power, not after how the Adamant Orb had helped him talk with Dialga.

Nil read off the final item._ Well, I suppose it's not that bad._

_**The Bonding tablet that the Alpha inscribed his name upon.**_

He was going to the Solaceon Ruins.

* * *

><p>The Pokédex Holders were now very busy. Red and Yellow were mapping out possible routes through Sinnoh, Gold was concentrating on the Manaphy egg, Silver was calling Red's mom to ask about Green and Blue, Ruby and Sapph were training in the yard, Emerald was looking up things on his Pokédex and memorizing them, Dr. Footstep and the Director had left in order to find Darkrai, and Crystal was getting acquainted with Diamond and Pearl.<p>

He had told them all about everyone else and their odd situations, to which the boys found fascinating.

"I'll have to ask Ruby and Gold how it feels to be a girl compared to a boy after this adventure with Nil is over," Pearl stated, smiling.

Crystal felt a bit of anger at the boy's unawareness of how _bad_ changing genders was, but was willing to forgive him.

Diamond, apparently, was a 'bonder,' and could make friends with even the most impossible of Pokémon.

To Pearl's special ability, Crystal gave the name 'identifier.' Pearl could identify any move a Pokémon was about to use just based on their stance.

The 'Lady' that the duo talked about stuck Crystal's interest. The third Sinnoh dexholder was a remarkable girl who had earned every single Sinnoh badge in about forty days, something that Sapph would find to be very neat.

Ruby and Sapphire were using each other's Pokémon. Despite how many times they explained the situation, their Pokémon just wouldn't listen. Ruby found it aggravating. Sapphire just saw it as another chance to get to know Ruby.

Pearl was watching with interest, and he grabbed Emerald by the shoulder. "Hey, I don't recognize two of the moves that they're using."

Emerald looked up and saw what was going on. "Oh… those are the Ultimate Moves, Blast Burn and Hydro Cannon."

Pearl was impressed. "Ultimate Moves? Wow… Hey, Dia! Speaking of Pokémoooon…"

"Speaking of Pokémoooon…"

"Do you know all of the moves that can be used?"

"I really do not."

"Well, why not?"

"There are much too many."

"Oh, but we get points for trying! Name them with me! Absorb, Block, Body Slam…"

"Charge, Fake Out, Fire Punch…"

"Dig, Curse, Disable…"

"Bite, Chew, Swallow…"

Pearl whacked Dia's head. "Not _eating_ moves, you idiot!"

Dia looked sad. "Well then, how about Rest, Sleep, Snore?"

Pearl fell over.

Emerald was stunned for a second. Then he burst out laughing.

* * *

><p>Nil had arrived in Solaceon Town. He would have directly gone to the Ruins, but he needed to gather himself. The <em>rot<em> was slowing him down a little.

He was sitting on a small hill when there was a flash. High-strung as Nil was, he jumped up and flailed about. Looking around, though, he saw no one. Slowly sitting back down, he saw the flash in his mind's eye. Had he just imagined it?

* * *

><p>"Pa, pa!" The little girl ran into her house and workplace holding her camera. The old man who was her dad was sitting near the press that they used.<p>

"What? Are you scared that we're going to get sued again?" His daughter had mostly grown out of asking, 'are we going to get sued, are we going to get sued,' but her father still liked to tease her for it.

"N-no pa! This is much more important!" The little girl was in a panic.

"Calm down, calm down. What is it?"

"I-I g-got that N-Nil guy f-from the p-posters on c-camera."

"What? We need to contact someone, immediately!"

* * *

><p>Professor Rowan's phone rang, and he answered it. "Hello, this is Rowan… What? Who is this?"<p>

Red and Yellow looked over from their maps.

"Oh… he is? Really? Thank you!"

Everyone else was now looking up quizzically.

"Nil's at Solaceon Town! A father-daughter team caught him on camera!"

Everyone scrambled onto flying Pokémon.

* * *

><p>Nil was not feeling his best. The <em>rot<em> had spread from the middle of his chest to as high as his collarbone. The disease's advances on his system had spread faster than it had been, making it harder and harder to breathe. Once in a while, ever since a few days ago, Nil had had horrible attacks, where the blight had shut down his mobility to zero, excepting flights on Crobat. He had found that he required the use of a special machine that he'd had ever since he'd first gotten the disease, which he had known he would need one day when the disease's extent reached a certain point.

His journey was almost at an end, though, so he didn't worry overmuch.

The Ruins were huge. And dark. And booby-trapped. Nearly everything in the Unown-infested hellhole was dangerous.

However, Nil knew where he was going, using the girl Yellow's powers to receive directions from the Symbol Pokémon.

_Top left, bottom right… behind the east wall…"_

Using Golem's Rock Slide, he knocked down the fake wall.

Beyond was a pillar, and on this pillar, was a tablet.

On the tablet was the first word ever written.

This was the Alpha tablet, the one that the Original One had created after humans were born, in order to give them language. The Unown were a species that were a side effect of the creation of the first word. Nil would never even have known that the tablet existed if he had not done extensive studies on the Original One.

Slowly walking up to it, he fell into a pit trap.

Nil's eyes turned a deep blue, the same color as the dexholder Sapphire's eyes. It was useful to have an ability that allowed him to turn any situation to his advantage.

Climbing out of the pit, his eyes turned a greener blue, that of Crystal's eyes. If there were any more traps, the 'capturer's' reflexes would prevent him from getting hurt.

However, there weren't any more traps. Nil reached the Alpha tablet and carefully picked it up. It was surprisingly solid for something that had lasted since the beginning of humankind.

* * *

><p>The dexholders arrived at Solaceon Town, and had talked with the Solaceon News team, when Pearl felt a poke. Turning around, he saw two particular Unown that he and the rest of Sinnoh group had met before.<p>

"Eh? Hasty, Relaxed!"

Red turned from the old man and looked up. "Huh?"

The man's eyes widened. "Th-those are Unown! They're everywhere in the Solaceon Ruins."

Diamond looked at them. "You want us to come with you?"

Relaxed nodded, and Hasty gave Dia a pull.

Silver was moving. "Come on, guys. Nil probably disturbed these guys in the Ruins! Let's go!"

* * *

><p>Hasty and Relaxed sighed, and Hasty spoke to Relaxed using telepathy.<p>

_Finally, some good luck! It's good that the humans Pearl and Diamond are here, and with such a big number of friends!_

Hasty turned to regard his P-shaped friend. _Yes, I'm glad they're here, too. It would have been impossible to get those reporters to do anything._

The Unown P nodded, floating along. _We need as much human help as possible. Such a strange and powerful human the one with strange eyes is, to even find the Original Word!_

"_What?_"

The two Unown turned to a yellow-haired human female, who was looking at them intently.

"What is the Original Word?"

* * *

><p>Yellow translated for her friends. "Mr. D says that a human came into the ruins and stole something important, something called the 'Original Word.'"<p>

She frowned. "However, as much as they explain it, I still can't figure out what it is."

Emerald pointed. "Maybe he can explain it."

Nil was walking out of the cavern with the Alpha tablet under his arm.

He stopped. He thought he'd dealt with them back in Kanto. "Hello again. How are you doing?"

Silver looked his enemy up and down. Nil was wearing jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and gloves. "Much better, now that we finally caught you."

Nil sighed. "This is not a place I would like to fight in. I only came here for this, the last item."

Crystal noticed that the stone had some archaic letters on it, but she couldn't understand them. "Of course it's the last item, because your wandering is stopping here and now."

Nil shook his head. "You can't beat me. You know you can't. Why are you even trying?"

Yellow walked forward. "Because what you've been doing is wrong."

Last time Nil fought Yellow, he'd started twitching. Now, he'd visibly flinched, and he started looking at the ground, the sky, the other dexholders, anywhere but Yellow. "Wrong? I-I could g-give you some pointed lessons on morality, A-Amarillo del Bosque Verde."

Yellow was confused at his strange behavior. "I'm not sure what you mean."

Diamond stepped forward. "You've played with people's lives, scared them and pushed them into giving you everything you want. It ends here. Go, Wig!"

The Torterra came out and growled menacingly.

Nil seemed glad that he didn't have to concentrate on Yellow anymore. "Hm… I find that using such a slow, bumbling Pokémon on me usually doesn't work. Go, Fiery!"

The Infernape looked restless.

"Wig, Dia's Mach-One-and-Only-"

"Fiery, plan S!"

The Infernape sped forward, faster than the eye could follow, and blew fire all across Wig, covering every inch of the Pokémon in flame.

Dia stopped speaking, aghast.

"Generally, Diamond boy, if you're going to make up your own moves, you should reduce the number of words in the name to less than four, at least. Any more, and you're way to slow."

Diamond was shocked. He had developed Dia's Mach-One-and-Only-Leaf to increase Wig's speed to epic proportions, only to find out that the name of the move itself had done him in.

Pearl stepped forward. "Chimhiko, you're up!"

Now the battle was between two fast, powerful Infernapes.

"Chimhiko, Fury Swipes!"

"Fiery, Close Combat!"

Fiery was faster, and struck very hard. Chimhiko gasped and then did his move as well, striking over and over again. Fiery looked very annoyed.

"Chimhiko, Mach Punch!"

"Fiery, Cut!"

This time, Chimhiko was the faster. Stepping forward at nearly the speed of sound, he punched Fiery in the stomach. Fiery doubled over and fainted.

There was a moment of complete silence. One of Nil's Pokémon had fainted, and Chimhiko had survived more than one move of Fiery's attacks. This had never occurred before with the dexholders.

Nil was shocked, then concerned for his Infernape, then enraged. "Why… you… Quagsire, your turn!"

The bulbous Pokémon leaped out with a grin.

Pearl looked at it, incredulously. _It looks slow, but… is it strong?_

"Quagsire, Water Song!"

Pearl frowned. He didn't recognize the Quagsire's stance at all.

Suddenly, Pearl and Chimhiko were surrounded by water, as Quagsire sung a very odd melody.

The other dexholders were confused. The 'identifier' and his Pokémon were surrounded by a cube of water that seemingly stood by itself.

Nil smirked. "And they say that Hydro Cannon is the Ultimate Water Move? Water Song lets me play with the compound H2O however I want! Alright, go Blissey!"

Ruby, Sapphire, and Crystal all recoiled. Blissey was the one that had changed what they saw in the bathroom. Gold seemed unfazed.

"Blissey, Elemental Conversion, Electric!"

Abruptly, the water surrounding Pearl and Chimhiko turned into electricity, and they fell to the ground, injured severely.

The dexholders sent out _every single one _of their Pokémon, forty-one in all.

Nil moaned. "How many times do we have to do this? I don't _enjoy_ hurting Pokémon!"

He sent out his other three, and then kneeled down and healed Fiery.

Red looked from Gold to Silver to Yellow. "What's he doing?"

Yellow looked suspicious. "I don't know… but if he's sending out all of his Pokémon at once, it can't be good."

Nine trainers started yelling commands out, one for each Pokémon.

Nil, though, yelled, "Plan Theta! [θ]"

Dialga roared so loud that everyone cringed. Then something odd happened.

Quagsire was using Water Song to shape a huge circle around them. Fiery joined in, filling the gaps with Blast Burn. Blissey shot in Thunderbolt, Psychic, and Hyper Beam. Golem used Rock Slide, Crobat used Sludge Bomb, and Dialga used Draco Meteor.

The vortex around the forty-one Pokémon grew brighter and brighter as energy from the elemental types of water, fire, electric, psychic, normal, rock, poison, and dragon bombarded them all at once.

The Pokédex Holders, including Nil, were in awe. Nil had planned this move in case he and his Pokémon were ever swarmed by powerful Pokémon, but even _he_ didn't fully comprehend the power that he had just unleashed.

The move ended. The forty-one Pokémon had been lifted into the air by the force of the twister, and were now landing rather hard.

Nil was running towards his team. "Fiery, you all right? Golem, Blissey, you? Everyone's fine?"

His Pokémon looked absolutely exhausted. "Crobat, I hesitate to ask for more, but we will probably get clobbered if we stay here any longer. Can you Fly?"

The Crobat nodded, and Nil returned the rest to his single, strange Pokéball. "My apologies, trainers! I was not aware that Plan θ was going to be so strong. As compensation, I will tell you where I'm headed, though that won't do you much good if you stay this weak. I'm going to the Spear Pillar!"

Diamond gasped. He hadn't ever wanted to go back to the Spear Pillar after the incident with Cyrus and the legendary Pokémon.

But now, he and the other dexholders would need to go there, the place closest to the origin of life.

* * *

><p><strong>θ (spelled Theta in English) is a Greek letter which is the equivalent of "th" in English, and is the name Nil gives to what I call an "elemental whirlpool." I don't know why there aren't more of these. If I had a whole team of Pokémon, it wouldn't make sense to give single, non-complementing orders.<strong>

**This time I made fun of the name Dia gave to his single-leaf Razor Leaf, Dia's Mach-One-and-Only-Leaf. I think that he made the name _way_ to long.**

**Blue and Green only get a mention in this chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6: The Final Battle

**Ah, Chapter 6.**

**This is the Climax! It all comes down to this!**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 6: The Final Battle<span>

The ten Pokédex holders knelt by several injured Pokémon. They had gotten them to the Pokémon Center, but there were so many that a few had to wait.

Yellow was crying.

The rest of the Pokédex holders were nervous. They didn't know what to do. With Nil's second victory, everything seemed hopeless.

Yellow was crying.

Red was sitting in a corner by himself, thinking of the battle, remembering how Nil acted, thinking of the one Pokémon, Nil's Infernape, that Pearl had actually knocked out.

Yellow was crying.

Slowly, ever so slowly, something occurred to Red. Everything Nil did had a pattern to it, and patterns could be stopped.

Red placed his arm around Yellow's shoulders.

"…Hmm?" Yellow looked up.

"Guys," Red said in a strong voice. "I know what to do. I have a plan."

* * *

><p>Professor Rowan was lounging about. Nothing particularly exciting was happening right now.<p>

His phone rang.

"Hello?" he asked as he picked it up.

"Rowan?"

"Cynthia, that you?"

"Yeah. Hey, Lucian found out some information about the Azure Flute's ritual."

"Oh, what did he find?

"Nothing about the ritual itself, but he did find out what it's supposed to be for."

Rowan frowned. "And what is it for?"

Cynthia's voice became thick with emotion. "When everything necessary is brought together and the Azure Flute is played… it will s-summon the Original One."

Rowan's mouth dropped open. "Cynthia, I need to call Red and the others _now_. I'll talk to you later."

However, now matter how many times he tried, he could not get a hold of any of the Pokédex holders.

* * *

><p>Green didn't understand it at all.<p>

His mom was muttering and pacing in the kitchen. Why she was doing this was beyond him. She was nearly always smiling and cooking and dressing up Blue. But then, she got a phone call from someone, and became frazzled.

Blue walked over to him from where she had been playing. "Is she doing something different yet?"

Green grunted. "No."

Blue smiled a wide grin and hugged Green. "Don't worry, Green… I don't think that it could be that bad…"

Green was unconvinced. "She's never been like this before."

Blue evaluated Green's expression. "Just because something changes doesn't mean it's bad, right?"

Green looked at Blue like she had grown a third eye. "It doesn't look like this is good change, Blue. I hope nothing bad is going on."

* * *

><p>Nil had arrived. Spear Pillar was not a location one could fly to, so he had spent a week climbing. Only one question was in his head. <em>Why does this mountain have to be so blasted huge?<em>

He'd finally stumbled out of an opening of the cave to find himself in a wide space that had two rows of pillars, one on either side. The majority of them seemed broken, and a few at the far side of the ruins had actually been knocked over, the remnants of Dialga and Palkia's battle. Nil could feel his Pokéball shiver as Dialga moved in it. Of course the legendary Pokémon would recognize this place.

Looking down at the floor, he saw that there were many tiles on the ground right outside the cavern exit. The colors formed the shape of a flute in a circle, which had three points on it that connected to form a triangle. This was the shape that symbolized Mount Coronet in relation to the three lakes, and also symbolized the relation between Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina to _something_.

Today, though, it would hold the physical vessels that represented the great powers.

Candice's vial of blood was placed on the lower left point. This represented the present, emotion, and the things that are.

The Alpha tablet was placed on the top point. This represented the past, knowledge, and the things that were.

The Griseous Orb was placed on the lower right point. This represented the future, willpower, and the things that might have been, and will be.

Nil stood in the center, on the image of the flute. It could only be played at noon. He would need to wait ten minutes.

* * *

><p>Red and his group actually made better time than Nil, because they knew precisely where the Spear Pillar was, thanks to Diamond and Pearl.<p>

They were hiding behind a few pillars, watching Nil place three items around him in a triangle.

Now Nil was waiting. He was looking around, bored.

Red looked at the group, hidden behind other pillars. "Remember what to do?" he mouthed.

They all nodded. All they needed to do was wait for the correct moment.

* * *

><p>Nil looked down at his Pokétch. <em>Three… Two… One…<em>

Nil brought the flute to his mouth and played.

* * *

><p>The Pokédex holders nodded, waiting. Red had reasoned that this was the place that the flute was going to be played. They were to wait until whatever it was that Nil was doing was over, and he was distracted.<p>

The flute was playing a sad song, filled with hints of lunacy. It sounded like the person who had made it had been very lonely, yet somehow at peace with himself. It sounded like existence being given birth. It sounded like the end of all things. It sounded like ages past and future. Then the song took a lighter turn and flitted upon a few notes that sounded excited and hopeful.

It sounded like the breath of life.

The song ended, but it reverberated through the dexholders minds.

Candice's blood flashed, and let out a column of pink light.

The Alpha tablet flashed, and let out a column of blue light.

The Griseous Orb flashed, and let out a column of yellow light.

The Azure Flute in Nil's gloved hands glowed, and then sang a song by itself, high and expectant.

Then a flight of stairs appeared. They were glowing, and leading upwards to a platform that became visible as the clouds cleared.

The dexholders were shocked. Even Red couldn't have expected _this_.

* * *

><p>Nil felt his heart beat faster. <em>This <em>was the moment he had waited a long time for. Years of suffering that _disease_, and he had still done it.

He felt a sense of exasperation and irony, though. He had walked and Surfed and Rock Climbed through Coronet's maze, and the Original One had prepared… _more stairs!_

* * *

><p>The dexholders saw Nil's figure race up the glowing stairs. They hesitated, and then followed.<p>

* * *

><p>Nil stood at the top of the 33 stairs, panting for breath. There hadn't been that many stairs, but they had been <em>very<em> steep, and his body couldn't take it as well as it would have several months ago. The _rot _was actually up to his cheeks, now.

Then he almost stopped breathing. In front of Nil was…

Him. The Alpha. The Original One. He who created all, and then created life and gave it meaning.

Nil heard a gasp, and then turned around.

It was _them_. His 'seniors.' Nil smiled. This was all so appropriate.

Behind him, the deity awoke.

"**Who awakens me?"**

Red gaped. "Wha-what? Who is that?"

Nil raised an eyebrow. "How rude. Red of Pallet Town, I have the pleasure of introducing you to Arceus, the Original One, and creator of Dialga, Palkia, humans, and all that exists."

"**You did not answer me, puny mortal. I asked, who awakens me?"**

Nil turned around quickly. "I did, lord. My name is Nil."

"**And why have you taken it upon yourself to rouse me from my slumber?"**

"I have come with a grievance, lord."

Arceus took a step forward. **"A grievance? You come here, to this Hall of Origin, to **_**voice a complaint**_** with me?"**

Nil looked taken aback. He was sweating. "Yes, lord."

Yellow was shaking. If what Nil said was true, this mighty being could blast the entire mountain beneath them to rubble with ease.

Arceus started laughing. The sound was so unexpected, everyone jumped. **"Humans. My most inventive creation. NIL!"** Nil jumped. **"You best have much more than a trivial problem. If you have come up to me, you have a problem with the entire world itself. If it is an insignificant complaint, you **_**will be judged!**_**"**

Arceus punctuated his point with his Signature Move, Judgment.

A golden light appeared in the Spear Pillar ruins, below, which everyone could see through the clear floor.

* * *

><p>Professor Rowan frowned as he felt a vibration. Then the vibration became a full-fledged earthquake. His lab nearly collapsed, but he hid under a table until it was all over.<p>

* * *

><p>Red's mom was scared. The entire house was shaking. Luckily, she had gathered Green and Blue underneath a doorway.<p>

* * *

><p>Cynthia was in Lucian's library when it happened. Lucian pulled everyone underneath an entryway, but Cynthia got her leg crushed by a piece of falling ceiling. She screamed, barely heard over the great noise of the quake.<p>

* * *

><p>Wally was standing in the middle of a marketplace when the entire town shook. It didn't last long, but it was big enough to make him wonder. <em>What was that?<em>

* * *

><p>The golden light turned into a black hole, and shook everything as the entire world contracted towards the center of the move. The humans in the Hall of Origin remained fine, probably due to Arceus' power in that place. The effects, though, were incredibly noticeable.<p>

The entire set of ruins was leveled. Where there had been pillars were now piles of brick.

"**That was a mere billionth of my power, mortal, probably less. What do you ask of me that would change the world to _that_ level?"**

Nil was shaken, but he had not come so far to fail. "I have noticed a problem to such a degree… as… that…" Nil composed himself. "I have noticed that in this world, there are two types of beings."

Arceus nodded. **"Such is how everything evolved. Go on."**

"There are humans, and then there are Pokémon. _In that order_."

Arceus tilted his head. **"I am a Pokémon. Would you call me less than mankind?"**

Nil shook his head hastily. "No, lord, I would not. But even your _children,_ Dialga, Palkia, Uxie, Mesprit, and the rest. They and all other Pokémon have been repeatedly mistreated by humanity. They are captured and experimented with, and even made to fight each other at the expense of those who so _arrogantly_ call themselves trainers.

"Humankind has always declared itself master of all Pokémon, yet somehow they also claim to be equals."

Arceus seemed confused. **"How can this oxymoron of a relationship be?"**

Nil smiled, slightly. "Humans go through Pokémon homes in forests, lakes, mountains and many more places. Pokémon live their lives all around every place. Humans come in, and they imprison Pokémon in these devices." Nil held out an empty Pokéball. "The captured Pokémon is taken away from its family, its friends, and its _home_ in the wild and forced to obey the will of whoever has caught it. They could've had parents, or brothers, or cousins in the wild! But still, they are enslaved. Such Pokémon do various tasks throughout the rest of their life.

"The most popular forms of these tasks, then, are Pokémon battles. These battles are when two trainers take their enslaved Pokémon and pit them against each other in a duel. This duel is to the point of whenever someone's Pokémon cannot physically fight any longer in trivial battles, and to the death when their _trainers_ feel it is necessary to stop each other at all costs."

Red was shocked. He had never considered his entire lifestyle _this_ way before.

Nil looked enraged. "Despite all of this, the _trainers_ claim to be the _friends_ and _partners _of Pokémon and try to justify it by saying it is the natural way of things. I would ask of you to change this order to one where Pokémon are completely free."

Arceus looked at Nil's belt and coughed. **"Nil, you seem to be hypocritical. You have six Pokémon, one of them even being my son, Dialga, in the ball on your waist."**

Nil nodded, as if he expected the Alpha to say that. "That is slightly different. My body, if you will notice by these scars and blisters, is rotting away." Nil took off his gloves and rolled up his sleeves. His seniors gasped. The disease looked like it was decomposing Nil's skin.

"I would not have made it this far without those who I can truly call friends. To each of these Pokémon, I have given free reign. They do not have to follow me if they do not want to. They do not have to follow my commands unless they feel like it. They were free to leave me at any time, yet they decided to follow me. _This _is true friendship, and true partnership. We have talked with each other, trained with each other, and even laughed with each other, and they've had no obligation towards me except that which they want. Even Dialga, lord, has been the greatest of my friends."

Arceus stepped forward. **"What of these others? What is their purpose here?"**

Nil swallowed. "Although they did not know that they were going to meet _you_ today, lord, I feel that they represent the world as it is, and not how I wish it to be. As far as I know, I am the only one who holds the views that I am expressing now, simply because the current order has brainwashed _all_ humans into believing that they are superior."

Arceus gestured to Red and Nil with one of his legs. **"Release one of your Pokemon, boy, and you too, Nil, so that I may talk to them."**

Red sent out Pika, and Nil sent out Fiery.

The Alpha Pokémon communicated with the two seemingly awed Pokémon, and nodded. **"There is evidence for Nil and against Nil here. These two speak of many interesting things. Perhaps after this is over, I will go out into the world to see these things for myself. But I have found both views valid."**

Nil looked uncertain. "My lord?"

Arceus looked at Red and Nil. **"Nil. I have reached a decision. There will be a test. This man, who is called Red, seems to be the strongest of the strong. You must defeat him, thus proving the bond between Pokémon and the strength of Pokémon under your system are better."**

Nil nodded. This was more than fair.

Arceus brow furrowed. **"You must do so without your powers."**

Nil nodded again. He had expected no less. Then he gasped and collapsed in another attack of his blight.

Arceus lowered his leg and touched Nil. **"It would not do to have him gasping and wheezing like a dying Mew during the process. I declare this disease to have run its course. Recover!"**

Nil's arms seemed to melt like wax, and when the Original One had finished, the _rot _was gone.

Nil stopped convulsing and looked down at his body. Crying, he said, "Lord, I thank you…"

Arceus was annoyed. **"Get on with it already!"**

Nil stood up, stronger than he had been in his whole life.

Red stood in position as well, waiting.

Sapphire walked up and whispered in his ear. "_Is the plan still on?_"

"_Yes._"

* * *

><p>Red took out a mask, and put it on.<p>

Nil looked at him, questioningly. "What are you doing?"

Red shook his head. "It doesn't matter, Nil."

Nil was unhappy. Arceus said he couldn't use his powers, but that other thing he could do was more a skill, and he had expected to at least use that.

Red grinned behind the mask, which covered his entire face and even his eyes behind goggles. He _knew_ it. This would screw Nil up big-time.

Arceus looked at them. **"Do not aim to kill. Begin."**

Nil sent out Golem.

Red sent out Poli, his Poliwrath.

"Golem, Strength!"

"Poli, Focus Punch!"

Golem rushed forward, throwing his weight out, but Poli thrust everything into a single, powerful blow. Golem struck Poli for a lot of damage, but Poli caused Golem to faint.

"Golem, return. Go, Blissey!"

Red nodded. "Poli, Seismic Toss!"

"Blissey, Elemental Conversion, Fire!"

Blissey dodged Poli's awkward lunge and converted his fighting energy into fire. Poli fainted as the energy in his limbs burned him from the inside out.

"Go, Vee!" The Espeon looked ready.

"Psychic!" was yelled at the same time, and the two Pokémon battled at the speed of thought.

It resulted in a double knock-out.

"Alright, Saur!"

"Come out, Quagsire!"

These two had fought before, but things were slightly different now.

"Quagsire, Hydro Spear!"

"Saur, do that thing!"

Nil looked towards Red quickly, but the mask was blocking Red's face. _What thing?_

Quagsire dug a hole.

Saur fired Frenzy Plant into the hole.

Rocks started coming up from water pressure, but then stopped. Plants started to climb up out of the geysers, cutting off the water. Quagsire came out of the ground, knocked out by the Ultimate Move.

Nil returned Quagsire, and then sent out Fiery.

"Saur, Poisonpowder!"

"Fiery, Blast Burn!"

Silver gasped. Nil's Infernape knew the Ultimate Fire Move!

The powder hit Fiery, but the Ultimate Move was overwhelming.

Nil looked with concern at his Infernape. Fiery had been poisoned, but he was signaling that he could continue.

"Go, Aero!"

Fiery had to recharge.

"Aero, Cross Poison!"

Aero flew across and ripped the Infernape apart.

Nil fumed. He had used that exact move on that exact same Pokémon in the exact same way when they fought at Oak's lab!

Red was cheered. He didn't know how Nil had done it, but he had managed to teach Aero a multi-type move just by copying Nil's Crobat.

Fiery was out due to the humongous amount of poison, so Nil sent in Crobat.

* * *

><p>Emerald was astounded. He had never seen such a quick and violent match. The two trainers contending for Arceus' favor fought with all that they had.<p>

Pearl was having a very hard time predicting what moves were next. Not only was the battle moving very quickly, but he didn't recognize certain 'plans.' It was impossible to know who the victor would be.

* * *

><p>"Aero, Hyper Beam!"<p>

"Crobat, Fly!"

Crobat rose above the ground just as Hyper Beam struck that spot. While Aero was recharging, Crobat swooped down and knocked out the Fossil Pokémon.

Next to be sent out was Lax, Red's Snorlax.

"Lax, Mega Punch!"

"Crobat, Plan A-1!"

Lax punched at the space that had contained Crobat a second ago, brushing the Bat Pokémon as it got out of the way. Crobat then shot a ball of venom at the Snorlax, who staggered and fell, unconscious.

"Go, Pika!" Pika came out, bristling and fully charged.

Crobat was confused. His held item had been an Aguav berry, which restored health when Crobat was severely injured, but it also tended to cause confusion.

While Crobat flittered around, hitting the floor and nearly flying off the edge of the Hall, Pika gave him a Thunderbolt. Crobat couldn't take anymore damage.

Nil sent out his last Pokémon, Dialga.

Arceus leaned in closer, with interest.

"Well, Red, it all comes down to this. Once more, our strongest of the strong come into play. Pika versus Dialga, eh? Are you _sure_ you're in the right? We take Pokémon from their homes, where they have families, friends, lives, and force them to fight for us. Do you think that this is just? That this 'natural order' is correct? I regret that I need to use this system to change it. I have a chance to make Pokémon and humans true equals. How is this wrong?"

Red took a step forward. "It is wrong, because Pokémon and people have a symbiotic relationship. This is as it always has been. Pokémon help people, and people befriend and care for Pokémon. Humans always make mistakes, though. They always have, too. Pokémon that live in the wild? Their habitats are destroyed quite often through human carelessness. However, humans have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes. If something bad happens to Pokémon, it hurts people, too! If you made Pokémon and humans the same, this would make peace end, as humans and Pokémon contended with each other for their goals!"

Nil frowned. This was different from anything else he had heard. This was not pointless blithering about friendship or partnership, but an actual good reason for the way things were. Still, Nil felt that it wasn't good enough. "Very well, Red. Dialga-"

Yellow quickly hurried in front of Red. Nil looked at her and instantly regretted it, falling over and holding his head in pain.

"Pika, Volt Tackle!"

The Ultimate Electric Move hadn't worked last time, but this time, Pika had extra instructions. This time, Pika aimed the move at the blue sphere in Dialga's breastplate.

Nil looked up, still grimacing. "No!"

The Ultimate Move struck Dialga in his most vital spot, the central point of the power of time.

Dialga roared, and the remains of the Spear Pillar below them flowed back to their original shapes, and no longer were ruins, but the original Temple of Time and Space, as the power of time ripped through the piles of brick.

Then Dialga fainted.

Nil was shocked. He had failed. Curling into a fetal position, he cried himself into unconsciousness.

Arceus straightened. **"It has been done. My judgment will be proclaimed. The order of this world will remain! Such is the will of Arceus!"**

* * *

><p><strong>There's still one more chapter, I think, after this, so hold on, I'm not done yet!<strong>

**I actually counted the number of stairs in the staircase that leads to Arceus. There are 33.**


	7. Epilogue

**Here is Chapter 7.**

**To answer Nekos Dream: No, Nil and N aren't the same person. N tried to get to the point that Nil made in Chapter 6, but didn't quite get there. Nil's name is derived from his power: he absorbs others' abilities. This makes him a sort of 'void' for others' powers to fill, so he is nothing, or 'nil' without others. N's real name is apparently 'Natural Harmonia Gropius.' I would call myself 'N' too if that was my real name.**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 7: Epilogue<span>

Nil woke up in a place he didn't know.

Looking around, he saw pictures of many Pokémon-related events: contests, battles, and more.

Sitting next to him was Ruby… no, Sapphire in Ruby's body. Ruby would never have the expression or the clothes that Sapphire was wearing.

"Red, he's awake!"

The door opened, and Red strolled into the room. "Awake, huh? Welcome to my house, Nil."

Nil nodded and sat up. "I failed… it turns out that the world is better as it is…"

Red shouted out the door. "Hey, everyone, he's awake!"

Blue, Green, Yellow, Ruby, Gold, Crystal, Silver, and Emerald filed into the room. "The dexholders of Sinnoh decided to stay where they were, so they're not here."

Nil was staring at his covers. "I don't understand how, but the order of this world is better than the one I imagined…"

Red waved his hand in front of Nil's face. "Nil? Junior?"

_That_ got Nil's attention. "Junior? After all I suffered, after all I lost, _you_ think _me_ your _equal?_"

Red nodded. "Although what you did was rather bad, your motivations were as good as Silver and Blue's, and they stole a Pokédex far before you did."

Nil sighed and changed the subject. "So, I suppose you want to know about me, eh?"

Everyone nodded. "Well, to start off with, you'll have to know about my 'Special Skill.' I am what you would call a 'perceptionist.' I can read people's thoughts by looking at their faces." Nil looked at Red suspiciously. "But you already knew that, judging by the mask you used in our battle."

Red tilted his head. "I guessed, and guessed correctly."

Nil shook his head. "Really clever, that was… Using my talent, I can perceive how others' abilities work, as well, and can replicate them. After all, all abilities are based off of our personalities. This is how I can do almost anything, and why my eyes change color."

Emerald waved his hand. "Go on."

Nil looked somewhat annoyed. "When I was young, this 'perception' allowed me to see into the minds of many trainers, and what I saw did not please me. You already heard me in the Hall of Origin; that was how I felt. It seems I was wrong…"

Nil stared dejectedly at his hands. "Ugh… it feels like I was hit by a Draco Meteor…"

Ruby walked up to Nil. "Hey, not to be a bother after your great epiphany, or anything, but there's something you need to do."

Nil looked up at Ruby. "Eh? What do you mean?"

Ruby looked intensely at Nil. "_You_ can read my thoughts by looking at my face, you tell me."

Nil's mouth opened in understanding. "You want me to switch you and Sapphire back?"

Ruby nodded. "And if it's not too much trouble, fix Green, Blue, Crystal, and Gold."

Nil got out of bed, gesticulating with his hands. "We'll need to go outside. I don't know if you noticed or not, but Dialga's a bit to large for the indoors."

* * *

><p>Green was blushing.<p>

For the past month, he'd been three years old. Now, Nil, who seemed to be a good guy in all actuality, had changed Green back to his real form. That wouldn't be so bad, except that he could remember every instance that he had spent believing Red's mom was his mom, and even more embarrassing, every moment that he thought Blue was his _sister_.

Yellow was laughing as she listened to Blue describe her time in Red's house. "And, then… hee hee, he said… 'Don't worry, Blue. If big brother is mean, I'll protect you!'"

Red was smiling as he listened to Blue talk about a day where the children had thought that Red was their brother.

Green grunted. "My bond with family is strong… and I thought Blue _was_ my sister. Can you fault me with being the way I was to this annoying woman?"

Blue turned to him, grinning. "You better not call me 'annoying' anymore, Green."

Green looked at her, apprehensive. "And why not?"

Blue smiled. "The treehouse."

Green visibly started and spoke out. "Alright! Alright! I get it! This is blackmail, you know!"

Yellow was looking at Blue curiously. "The treehouse?"

Blue looked very sly. "I won't tell unless this guy is rude to me…"

Nil looked back from his work, which was currently making Gold and Crystal normal again. He laughed. "That's hilarious, Blue! Don't worry though. The secret's safe with me!"

Red was very amused. "He might be an even bigger meddler than you are, Blue!"

Blue looked grumpy. "You take that back!" she growled in mock anger. "And you!" she shouted, pointing at Nil, "You stay out of my head!"

Green groaned. Blue was going to be the death of him one day.

* * *

><p>Ruby and Sapphire were furious.<p>

"I'm sorry, guys, but Blissey _had_ to forget Heart Swap, or I wouldn't have made it to Mt. Coronet at all. I never intended to change you back at the time, anyways."

Sapphire nearly ripped Nil's head off. "Don't patronize us, Mr. Mind Reader! Just teach it to your Blissey again!"

Nil frowned. "It will take another three years to teach."

Ruby face-palmed. "It might be easier just to wait for the Manaphy Egg to hatch."

Gold, now a boy again, was running up to them. "Hey guys! Guess what? The Manaphy Egg hatched!"

Nil was grinning. "Looks like you guys will be switching back, after all. Hmm…" He looked at Ruby and Sapphire. "You're right, Sapph, it is slightly uncomfortable to think about Ruby looking at your body in the shower… and I can assure you that he did."

Sapphire felt her cheeks burn. Then she slapped Nil across his face.

* * *

><p>Nil was in Red's room, looking around. "What an interesting room…"<p>

Red and Yellow walked through the door. "Hey, Nil!"

Nil turned towards the two, and immediately turned away, putting his hands to his head. "Ah! Ooh! What is it, Red, Yellow?"

Yellow started to speak. "We wanted to talk to you about _that_. We know that you seem to get hurt every time you look at me. Why is that, Nil?"

Nil was moving his mouth, but no words came out. He turned back to the couple with his eyes firmly closed. "Well, girl, there's only one instance where my ability doesn't help, but actually hinders…"

Red sat down on his bed, pulling Yellow into his lap. "And what is that?"

Nil turned towards Red's voice, clearly looking uncomfortable. "Well, you see… um…"

* * *

><p>Gold and Crystal were sitting in the dining room, looking at pictures of toddler Blue in cute outfits. "So, you've always wanted a daughter?" Crystal asked.<p>

Red's mom nodded. "Yeah. Boys are nice, I guess, but I've always wanted a girl of my own. Too bad that Red's father…" She looked sad, but didn't elaborate.

Gold changed the subject quickly. "Hey, Super Serious Gal. Look at this outfit, here."

Crystal took a peek. "Yeah, what about it?"

Gold grinned his 'you're hot, girl' smile. "You would look really cute in this, I think."

Crystal blushed deeply. "Gold! I, uh… er…"

They were interrupted by a scream from upstairs. Crystal stood up, nearly knocking her chair over. "What…?"

Yellow was walking down the stairs, pulling a dazed Red along.

Ruby and Sapphire, in their own bodies, walked towards them, looking confused. "What was that, Yellow?"

Emerald was walking into the room with Green and Blue right behind him. "Yeah, what was that?"

Yellow was beaming and skipping around in circles. Red had sat down on the stairs, looking absolutely shocked. "You don't mind if I tell them, Red?"

Red's mouth was agape, but he shook his head. "I… don't… mind."

Yellow, who looked ecstatic, turned towards her friends. "I… I'm pregnant!"

* * *

><p>Nil frowned at the commotion he heard. When he told Red and Yellow that the only time his power didn't work was when somebody was pregnant, Red's eyes had bugged out and Yellow had screamed in delight. From the sounds downstairs, Yellow had just told everyone else the news.<p>

It was a strange thing that prevented him from knowing a pregnant woman's thoughts, but in a way, it made sense to Nil.

Babies, when they were born, had at least some of a consciousness, and Nil could feel something when he looked at them.

However, when a woman was pregnant, mother and baby were joined, and seeing the baby's nonexistent mind through the mother's face was almost like looking into death.

* * *

><p>Gold cheered. "Yes! Human breeding!"<p>

Crystal elbowed him in the stomach.

Blue was nearly as excited as Yellow. "Yellow, I'm so happy for you!"

Green, on the other hand, was confused. "Um… when exactly did this happen?"

Red and Yellow blushed deeply, and didn't answer.

It was Nil, walking down the stairs and averting his gaze from Yellow's face, who did. "According to Red's thoughts, it happened at some sort of carnival in a Ferris wheel."

Yellow walked up the stairs embarrassed and furious, grabbed Nil's head, and pointed it at her face.

Nil screamed and stumbled, falling down the stairs and landing face-first on the floor.

Yellow looked ferocious. "That's what you get!"

Blue's eyes were really wide. "At… the… carnival?" A month ago, she had snapped a photo of Red and Yellow kissing at the top of a broken Ferris wheel, before they had dropped out of sight… but she didn't know it had gone _that _far up in the car.

Red still looked like he couldn't believe it. "I'm going to be a… father?"

Ruby walked up to him and patted his back. "I'm sure you'll be a good dad. After all, you're Red. What could go wrong?"

* * *

><p><strong>And that's the end. Nil's true ability was revealed here, as well as why he flinched every time he saw Yellow. He is the Perceptionist.<strong>

**A very short chapter, but most Epilogues are.**

**There is a sequel coming out soon: Family Issues: Aftermath.**

**Thanks for all those who reviewed, all of the reviews were helpful and inspiring.**

**I would like to hear everyone's comments and input.**

**Thank you for reading!**


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